I do not exclusively cloth diaper our kids. It isn't feasible with our schedule, plus I'm just not the kind of girl who's willing to cart around poopy inserts in a plastic bag while we're out and about. I cloth diaper for both the comfort of our child and to save money, but you'd better believe I also keep a small stash of disposables on hand!!!
A few things to consider:
1. If Dad isn't on board with cloth diapering, I'd avoid an all-or-nothing approach. My hubby was less than enthused when I suggested we give cloth diapering another try (more on that later) so whenever I changed Dumpling, I used cloth and when he did it, he used disposable. It took a couple months, but he actually prefers cloth now, too. Give them time, they do eventually come around.
2. If you give birth to 8 pound-plus babies, the one-size-fits all cloth diapers may just work for you. If like us, you birth barely 6 lb stringbeans, one size most certainly does not fit all. Regardless, for at least the first few meconium-ridden diapers, I recommend using disposables. No new mom needs to try scrubbing that stuff out of an insert.
3. If like us, you choose to cloth diaper at home and use disposables for extended car rides or overnight trips, you are NOT a bad person. Two of my super-crunchy mommy friends exclusively cloth diaper and they let me know that I'm wimping out, like all the dang time. Whatever. They have 1 kid and I have (nearly) 4. Love them to bits, but they can take their organic granola and shove it. Bottom line: do what works for your family and your situation.
Ok, here we go: this is our basic setup/system. This is not in any way a sponsored post. If I mention any brand-names, it is only because we use and love them.
I mentioned earlier that this is our 2nd attempt at cloth diapering. When our oldest was born, we had evey intention of cloth diapering. We bought 12 AIO type. Our daughter hated them. They were supposed to accomodate birth-potty training, but really I think she would have needed to weigh at least 10 pounds before they would have fit her. She wore one of them once and that was the end of that little experiment. I sold them to a local mom. That's actually the nice thing about cloth diapers; if you try and just don't like a certain kind, you can almost always sell them for nearly what you paid for them. We only ever used disposables on her and now she is thankfully, blessedly potty trained.
Take home message: Either be prepared to use newborn disposables until your child is large enough to fill out an AIO or use a fitted cloth diaper. We like Thirsties DuoWraps. They come in just 2 sizes, can be used with a variety of inserts, and fit our kids really well. We just moved Dumpling up into the 2nd size. They are supposed to work for 18- 40 pounds. Dumpling is 18 lbs and change, but given their adjustable nature, I have every confidence that they will work for the entire weight range. The old style had an exclusively snap closure system.
The new style combines snaps and velcro. We were a little hesitant to try the new stlye, but the velcro actually works great and provides a much trimmer fit.
We use a combination of Indian Cotton prefolds (cheap) and Thirsties Doublers as inserts (not so cheap, but a bit more absorbent).
Whatever cover you choose, insist on a leg gusset. Really keeps things contained.
But, as diapers always do, the inserts get dirty and need washing. I soak mine until laundry day in a Lowe's 5 gallon paint bucket with lid. I mean seriously, Diaper Genie-type things are expensive and I'm doing this to save money. I fill it about half full of hot water and dump in a mixture of baking soda and oxi-clean, probably about half scoop each. Please be sure you store this up high, preferably with something heavy on top. I keep it strictly out of reach of my kids, since accidental drownings are always a concern. Dirty inserts go in, then on laundry day, I drain the excess water, toss the inserts into the washer and wash them in my homemade detergent. (More on that in a bit).
I typically just wash the diaper covers with my regular laundry, unless of course, there's been an awful diaper explosion.
The Detergent: My "homemade detergent" was actually born out of necessity. I was in the middle of laundry day and ran out of my liquid. I had lots of oxi-clean, baking soda, and washing soda on hand and figured I'd give it a whirl. It did great. I now mix roughly equal parts of all three and use 1 full scoop per full load on our cloth diapers and also our clothing. Our clothes come out clean, scent-neutral and soft enough that I can skip the fabric softener. It also doesn't irritate my son't sensitive skin. It works for us- if you decide to try it, be aware that your mileage may vary depending upon your washing machine, water type etc. I am in no way saying you should do this, just that it works for us. Again, I'm doing this to save money, not shell out on fancy organic cloth diapering detergent.
That's it! We buy 1 small pack of Huggies for Dumpling and it lasts us anywhere from 4-6 weeks, depending upon how much we are away from home. That's pretty cheap, as far as diapering goes. We also look for Huggies coupons and save the rewards codes to enter on the Huggies website. It takes a while to accumulate enough points, but every so often, we cash out for a free pack of diapers, which is a nice little bonus.
How about you- are you a cloth, disposable, or combo family?
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