Make the move to cloth diapers…

I have an acquaintance with whom I am not actually acquainted. I just know her over the internet. She is smart, she is savvy, she prepares and teaches others to prepare traditional food, she is way green but she uses disposable diapers. She is careful to buy chlorine free more ecologically sounds ones, which are freaky expensive, but she still throws them in the garbage after they are used. I am not the biggest fan of disposable diapers and all except one of my children went through cloth the whole way. Number six was born on the tails of my recovery from having three kids in two and a half years and he used disposable and after the surgeries I had in the last year, we used disposable for a while. I can honestly say that I have seen both sides of the fence is the grass is really greener on the cloth side. Here’s the benefit of my experience of almost two decades of cloth diapering:

Why not use disposable?

• They are wasteful. They both generate an enormous amount of garbage that must be hauled away and prevent the return of those materials back into use. It’s a one way trip that lasts thousands of years.
• They leak like a sieve. If you have ever had an explosive pooper, nothing leads to more clothing changes (or carpet cleaning) like a disposable diaper.
• They can lead to more rashes. In my disposable diaper usage, I found that some of the less expensive brands led to bleeding rashes overnight. My kids have sensitive skin and it seems that disposables wreak havoc on it. While cloth needs to be changed more frequently, they all have done better with it.
• You can feel superior. While this is not the best motive but it really can make you feel like a better parent. If you are a dedicated disposable user, you know that cloth diaper parents lord it over you.

It really is not such a complicated process to switch to cloth. It can seem overwhelming and like it needs a lot of research and preparation but it is really not that bad. here are a variety of products and washing methods but I am going to keep it simple. Here are your diapering choices:

• AIO. All-in-one diapers are the Rolls Royce of cloth diapers are are very expensive. They consist of a diaper and a cover all in one and are washed and dried as a single piece. They also go on and off like a disposable but do require quite a large stockpile. You will need a dozen and a half if you are willing to wash every other day. If you have the bucks, they are nice.
• Pockets. These diapers consist of a cover and a diaper insert that needs to be placed inside the diaper for absorbency. These also go on and off like a disposable but take some assembly time but tend to me less expensive than an AIO. You do need a large stockpile of at least 18.
• Fitted/Contoured. These diapers are hour glass shaped and some have elastic gussets on the side to control leaks. They lay into a separate cover. You will need at least 18 diapers but only four or so covers and are more economical.

• Prefolds. This sounds strange because you will actually fold them but they are really prefolded. When my oldest was born, my mother bought gigantic sheets of birds-eye and I spend an hour folding them after they came off the line. The dried super quick but were a horrible pain. I saved up and bought prefolds which save time and money and if you dry them occasionally on the line and don’t use bleach can last ages. I have only one left from the high school senior but his lasted through to the seventh child. That is frugal and green. It is easy to stockpile these because they are often less than two dollars a piece and I keep tons on hand. I have two in diapers right now and have two dozen diapers and eight covers and only wash every third day.

• Covers. There are three basic kinds: woolies, snappies and velcro. The wool ones can be used multiple times before being washed by hand and are the most green option. The require diapers that hold in place with snaps, pins, or velcro because they are more like panties. Ones with snaps and velcro, which may or may not adjust for crotch depth, are a cheap bet. They hold the diaper in place, they are inexpensive and machine washable. If you buy the snap kind, often they adjust for rise and this means you can use the same size cover on a baby who is 8 pounds and on who is 28 pounds. This can be great if you have more than one in diapers at a time.

Preparing new diapers or stripping old ones. New diapers have a natural wax on them an will need to be washed and dried three to five times before use. I wash on hot with a tiny bit of soap and line dry. Lay one diaper out on a table and pour a small amount of warm water on it. If it pool or beads rather than being readily absorbed, then you need to wash another time. If you notice a really strong smell immediately after the baby wets, it can be a sign that there is a build up of soap or additives from soap and the irritants in the waste are sticking to to it. You can try either boiling the diapers in a large canner full of water or washing three times, both are processes of stripping or deep cleaning diapers.

So how do I actually diaper?

I will approach this post from the perspective of two piece, prefold plus cover, diapering. Setting up the changing are is not as hard as you might think. You’ll need a place to keep the diapers, covers, wipes, spray as well as some ointments and maybe some fleeces. this is my changing station tucked into the corner of my L-shaped upstairs hall.The large zippered bags are full of dirty diapers I am going to wash. These bags keep in moisture and odor and are great for travel and are way less hassle than the old-style buckets.

Next to my changing table I keep a shelf with baskets which hold my wipes, my doublers (which can be newborn sized diapers folded in thirds, use what you have), my fleeces (small rectangles of polyfleece used to protect baby from wetness and made from cheap, thin fabric from the fabric shop) and bibs. On the top I keep lotion, coconut oil for the diaper ointment, a few tubes of homeopathic ointment, nose bulbs and a bottle of very diluted Dr. Bronner’s soap in any variety but peppermint. Mint burns, trust me.

When I diaper a baby, I remove the diaper and set it aside. A small cheap frisby can be good for this. A wet diaper goes right in the bag, a poopy but totally breastfed baby poo goes right in the bag, a poopy solid food eating diaper must be rinsed in the toilet. Yes, it’s gross. So is life. Get over it already. There is another wet bag in the bathroom next to the toilet for the ones that are rinsed. Super dirty bibs also go in the wet bag by the changing table, just for ease. If the baby is poopy, I have likely pre-wet a small washcloth that I use as a wipe. I use cheap washcloths from the discount store. I spray the baby’s bottom (water with a small amount of Dr. Bronner’s, again NOT peppermint) and wipe. Wipes go in the bag. You’ll see in the photo above that  make sure to take the baby’s shoes off before I diaper. Nothing ruins your day like the baby kicking poo around, especially while wearing good shoes. The cover can be reused multiple times and I only change them about once a day and they go right into the wet bag. The diapers get changed every couple of hours. I use fleeces because they allow wetness to pass through to be absorbed beneath and prevent the wet diaper from irritating the skin. I use coconut oil as diaper ointment and it works amazingly well to both protect and prevent as well as heal.

You’ll need smaller diapers such an infant size for under six months and toddler diapers for older babies and toddlers. When placing a diaper in the cover, fold it in thirds. Fold it lengthwise for older babies in a toddler size diaper and in thirds widthwise for smaller babies under six months. Use the smaller diapers folded in thirds widthwise as a doubler for long trips, overnight or for kids with big bladders. You can place a fleece over the folder diaper like so and then fold it up over the baby and attach with the snaps or the velcro.

When I wash diapers, I empty the wet bags into the washer and toss in the wet bags. I run the washer through a short wash on cold with no soap. This is to rinse the diapers before washing. Then I run the diapers through a heavy wash with hot water and an extra rinse and only a small amount of soap. Cloth diapers are fanatically dedicated to their soap, but my favorite is Country Save. I use it for all my laundry needs and it has never irritated our sensitive skin. Try to use a sparse amount of soap to prevent a build-up. Do not use bleach which will weaken your diapers. I dry my covers  and fleeces on the line year round, either outside in the sun or inside on a rack. I dry my diapers in the sun in the summer and in the dryer in the winter. They take a long time to dry, so I  start them first thing if I need to get them on the line so I have a full day of sun working to remove stains and odors.

Where do you get diapers?

My favorite all-in-ones are handmade by a stay at home mom (of eight, I think) and are crazy cool looking. You can find them on her etsy shop called bebe Mellons HERE.

My favorite online retailer for covers and prefolds is run by a mother of twelve is called Sweet Little Blessings and is found HERE. Short on cash? Check out the Econobum kit she carries HERE which has seams to help you fold the diapers in thirds. Buy two and you can get everything you need to start cloth diapering for $100. Can you get enough disposable diapers to last one child straight through to potty training for that amount?

My favorite brick and mortar shop is a cool little place in the Highlands neighborhood of Denver, where hubs and I lived with the kids until we moved to the burbs. It is a very hip, very cool part of the city and this neat little shop full of natural parenting items and cloth diapers is one of the best parts. There is a changing table, I nursing rocker and stool and the moms who run it, bring their babies to work. How cool is that? If you are local to the Denver-Boulder area, then you simply must stop by their shop, their page is HERE.

This is pretty much everything you need to know about cloth diapering. I hope it helps you muster the courage to get started, I know it has been good for me. I am finally attacking that terrible hallway and repainting and ripping out that Smurfy carpet. It looks hideous. Now you all know that only the downstairs is done in this house. Where we have lived for six years. Yeah. Need to finish.

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