Cloth Diapering 101 - as taught by me

I made the decision to cloth diaper long before Adelaide was a twinkle in my eye.  Mostly, it was for the cost effectiveness; I knew that it was substantially cheaper than using disposables, and I knew that as long as I started buying them early, we'd be able to afford the initial investment and save thousands (yes... THOUSANDS) of dollars in the long run.

Now that I'm a Mom and constantly worrying, it's also nice to know that I'm doing what I can to protect the environment and cut down on waste.

Our Stash and Cost:

We started out with a Kushies Ultra AIO (all-in-one) style diaper. We bought 25 nb size, 25 infant size and 15 toddler size, for a total cost of less than $500 (not to shabby for diapers from birth to 44lbs). We thought they'd be great because we wouldn't require a rubber pant. The looked just as easy as a disposable, super cute, easily adjustable with Velcro closures. Unfortunately, they aren't meant for skinny little babies and we were having major leaks.  They'd be great for average or chubbier babes. I got frustrated and couldn't figure out how to solve my problem, so I decided to sell my Kushies and then turned to Twitter and at the advice of some of my CDing Mama friends I decided to switch to a prefold with a cover.

We now have:

24 Bummis Organic Cotton Prefold Diapers (9-20lbs)
2 Kushies Rubber Pants (infant)
5 Bummis Super Brite Wraps (small)
1 Bummis Whisper Wrap (small)

Total Cost: $158!!!! - that's the equivalent of 5 boxes of diapers which would have lasted us about a month and a half at 10 diapers a day. My little cloth stash allows me to cloth diaper full-time, and will do me until she's approximately 20lbs.  And since she still hasn't hit the 10lb mark, that's going to be a while. Of course, this doesn't account for the cost of laundry (which is minimal) and the cost of getting the next size up when the time comes (20-40 something lbs).

Honestly, cost wise, cloth diapering is a steal for those on a tight budget. We may add/change a cover here or there, and I may pick up a few different AIOs or pockets, but only because they're cute and once you start buying cloth diapers, it's hard to stop... not because I have to.

We LOVE the Bummis! They are easy to use, easy to care for, good for the environment, good for Adelaide's bum, super absorbent, adorable, and way more affordable than disposables. We especially love the Super Brite wrap. The leg gussets are perfect for our skinny girl. We rarely have leaks.

Please excuse the crappy cell phone picture. I just wanted to show the diaper itself, as well as the covers and liners. Simple, simple, simple.

Use: the diapers are simply folded in 3rds and placed inside the liner. No crazy folds or fasteners required. Then, put on the baby like a disposable diaper. Easy peasy lemon sqeezy. I've been watching some tutorials and will be investing in a diaper clippy so I can try some of the more complicated folds, but honestly, even with EBF poop, with the leg gussets in the super brite covers, we've had 1 blow out in a month. That's less than we had with disposables.

Liners: We use Kushies flushable biodegradable liners (about $8 for a roll of 100). While they don't really make a difference for the wet diapers, they make poopy clean-up a little easier; especially with newborn breast milk poop.

As she becomes a heavier wetter I can add another layer insert if necessary.

Diaper Rash: Because we use the biodegradable liner, we can use whichever diaper rash cream we choose without worrying about the effect on the diapers. However, I'm told that one of the pros of cloth diapering most babies is that they lead to far less diaper rash. 1- because you have to change them a little more often and 2- because they baby isn't sitting in all those chemicals that make the sposies absorbent.

Care: We have a front load, high efficiency washing machine and an electric dryer, and I'm currently using Rockin' Green detergent (I'm probably going to make my own detergent when our current supply runs out).

24-30 diapers is the generally recommended amount to get through 2 days between washes. Honestly, you wouldn't want to go much longer than that anyway. With our covers and the number of diapers we have, I'm totally comfortable for 2 days.

Our diapers and covers go into a covered pail in the nursery. No pre-soaking, no rinsing yet (breast milk poops are super easy to clean), just fasten the Velcro down and toss in the pail. 

When I'm ready to wash, I run a quick cold water rinse cycle with no soap to get any nasties out. Then I run a regular cold water wash with Rockin' Green, adding and extra rinse at the end. My machine is super easy to use and all of these options can be preselected, so I hit a few buttons and it's done. I definitely spend less time doing this than I would constantly going to the store to buy diapers.  I was warned about washing cloth in a high efficiency washer, but I've had absolutely no problems so far.

All of our covers and diapers are dryer safe and when I can't hang them outside (which I like to do because a-it's cheaper and b-the sun acts as a stain remover) I toss them in the dryer for 45 minutes and wa-la! Clean, soft, fluffy diapers.

Travelling:  We use disposables when we're going to be away from home overnight because who wants to pack dirty diapers,  but for day-to-day running around we use our cloths like normal. I bought the most adorable wet bag that I simply toss the dirty diapers into until we get home. It contains any mess and smell and gets washed and dried with the diapers.  We've never had a problem.

Cons:  They're bulkier than disposables, especially prefolds, which is one of the reasons I may invest in some pockets or AIOs the fit a little trimmer for special occasions or outfits that they just don't work with. But honestly, this hasn't been a problem yet and I love her little cloth diaper bubble butt, especially when she's hanging out in just a diaper and one of her adorable covers.

Also, it's harder to keep a diaper bag stocked at all times. I may actually buy a few more and an extra cover or 2 to keep in the diaper bag. When we were using disposables (waiting for her to grow in to the Kushies... which she never did) I always had the bag at the door ready to go.  That's a little harder to do when you're working with a limited amount of cloth, but buying a few extras and some plain wraps to keep in the bag would alleviate that problem.

In all, I'm really glad we made the decision to cloth diaper. It's been easier than I expected so far (we'll see how it goes when she starts solids) and it's become something of an addiction.