When I found out I was pregnant, so many options were presented to me. Options I didn’t even know I had to consider. One options I knew about but was unsure of taking, was cloth diapers. Most people in the United States seem to use disposable diapers. While technically you are still supposed to flush the poop out of those, most people just throw them away, making them very simple. They are a lot of waste, and the ingredients are not listed on the packaging. There are many reasons to switch to cloth instead, but the reasons above are not why we decided to go with cloth.
They save money. Everyone is different, and you can do the math for yourself with water and laundry detergent, but for us, they save money. Not spending money on diapers every time we go to the store is helpful. Now, we do use disposables from time to time but not consistently.
When I set out on the journey that is cloth diapering, I had no idea what kind of world I was entering. It seemed incredibly complicated, and what I thought I knew from my sister cloth diapering was dashed to pieces. Suddenly, fear entered, and I wasn’t sure I desired to diaper like this anymore. Did it really matter? But my daughter had a red bottom, and I felt that it was important that I try. Later, it became even more important to me to keep as many synthetic chemicals away from such a sensitive part of her body as possible.
So, without further ado, here is what we do.
- Types of diapers
We use a mix of All in one diapers (nothing to take out, the absorbent part and the waterproof part are all sewn together), pocket diapers (the absorbent insert is put inside the waterproof part with a fleece or cotton part over it), and all in twos which is basically a hybrid of the above two. I like pockets because the outside dries quickly, I can put the inserts in the dryer, and they make diaper changes easy because they are similar to disposables. This article talks about even more different types. Figuring out the type you want to use is the most difficult part.
2. Wash routine
Depending on how many diapers you have, you have to wash more or less. We have about 15 diapers, so I wash every other day. For the first wash, I throw everything in the washer (wet bag inside out, diapers, inserts, cloth wipes) and wash on the heaviest setting with warm water and a scoop of detergent. If you have hard water, which I do, I recommend adding a water softener like Calgon. after that wash finishes, I take out the wet bag, change the water temp to hot, and add a little detergent. I either use Rockin’ Green Dirty Diaper detergent from Amazon or the Norwex Laundry detergent. Both are nontoxic detergents that have enzymes to really clean dirty diapers.
I hang dry diaper shells and all in one diapers, and throw all the diaper inserts in the dryer after the second wash. If there is a stain, I take the diaper outside on a sunny day and let the sunshine bleach it away.
3. Poop
If you decide to use cloth diapers, you are most likely wondering about poop. No matter what you use to diaper your baby, you will have to deal with poop. When my daughter was about a month old, she was still using disposables, and she had at least one “blow out” a week. I changed her diaper sizing, and did everything I could, but there was just a lot of poop. When we changed to cloth, she didn’t have anymore blowouts, and because she was exclusively breastfed (EBF) for the first 6 months, I just threw her cloth diapers straight in the wash.
Once she started eating solids, I would throw the poop into the toilet (using a rubber spatula to scrape it off if I had to) and then I would flush the toilet. After I would dip the diaper in the fresh water and scrape any remaining excess poop, I needed to do so, flush, and spray the diaper with Thieves All Purpose cleaner. Not the most fun, but it did the job. Once we moved into our house, I would throw the poop in the toilet, and then rinse the diaper in our laundry sink. Still not perfect, but much better. All I would have to was clean out the sink after than and I could wash my hands right there. If I could have anything I wanted and I had known about this when I started my registry, I would have gotten a Spray Pal. You clip your diaper to it, and it has a diaper sprayer/bidet attached to the toilet tank, and you can spray your diapers off strait into the toilet without it splashing everywhere. That is my ideal.
That’s pretty much it. Everyone’s situation is different as well as their budget. I love my cloth diapers, and I hope to use them for any other babies we may have. You have to do what is best for your family. Look into your options and pray about it. Yes, I really think God cares about our babies’ diapers since He makes the babies and He helps us parent. Either way, your baby will be great as long as their mama is there taking care of them to the best of their ability.
How are you planning to diaper or how did you do it?
