I'm writing this post because many of my friends are having babies or plan to in the near future. Many people have misconceptions about cloth diapers and envision the old bulky cloth with pins holding it together and an ugly plastic cover which leaks. Today, cloth diapering has made serious upgrades!! There are so many different options (which can seem overwhelming). I wanted to share some info and pictures about the supplies I have and how the set up works for us.
With a newborn, I highly recommend a diaper service if you're a first time cloth user. Newborns go potty a lot and it can be pretty overwhelming (at least it was for me). I used
Blessed Bums Diaper Service They helped me get set up with the basics and walked me through how to do everything. They dropped off clean diapers every week and picked up the dirties. No work for me other than changing baby's diaper.
After 2 months I started to wash my own diapers. This is a new ball game. I recommend the following supplies to make your life easier
The Spray Pal and
Bum Genius Diaper Sprayer. These two items have made clean up of the poo diapers so easy peasy. Here is a picture of them in our bathroom.
If you click the link to spray pal you will see exactly how we utilize this little gem for cleaning those poos! :)
Many people ask how many diapers do you need? Well, you will come to find out it depends on a few things. The big one is how often do you want to do laundry (suggested NO MORE than every 4 days max)? How many babies do you plan on diapering? Can you stop yourself from buying?! There are so many cute prints and colors it can become addicting. I decided 24 was a good number for one baby. We use "pocket diapers". These are adjustable using snaps typically for sizes 8-35lbs. My favorite is the BumGenius 4.0 brand. This is how we store the clean ones for use
This large basket was purchased from Pottery Barn and sits on the floor next to our changer. When I need to change baby I just grab a diaper and put it on just like a disposable. I really like this video as it shows the changing process and how to clean them.
Mama Natural Cloth Diapering How To!
I pretty much do exactly what is done in the video. Except I use the spray pal so I dont have to touch the diaper at all!! (SCORE). I also soak my diapers over night in a utility sink prior to washing them because I have an HE machine which doesn't use enough water so a good soak is crucial to getting those bad boys stink free! I also use
RockinGreen Laundry Deteregent. I love their stuff! I typically skip the dryer and hang dry in the sun because this saves on electricity and the sun is a natural bleach/sanitizer.
Another thing I do, is use cloth wipes. I made my own using fleece cotton fabric. My mother in law helped me cut them into 8x8in squares and sew two pieces together. I have about 40 of them. I still use disposable wipes for messy diapers but majority of the time we use the clothes. These just go right in the diaper pale and are washed with all the diapers. Saves so much money on buying wipes and my babies bottom is happy. We make our own
Wipe Solution. This solution is stored in a spray bottle and we just spray as much as we need each time.
So, in summary you need the following:
approximately 24 diapers, a diaper pale (which is a plastic trash bin with lid), a
diaper pale liner,, a wet bag for when you are out in public with a dirty diaper (this is a mini version of the diaper pale liner), and cloth diaper specific laundry detergent. Really nice to have but not a must would be cloth wipes, homemade wipe solution/bottle, diaper sprayer and the Spray Pal. Links are found above! Everyone does it a little bit different but this works for us!
