Dream Book Design

My Guide to Cloth Diapering

I have had a million and one people ask me questions about how we cloth diaper (CD), but have had my hands too full of poop to write out a post about it…kidding- i’m kidding people. Really though, I am so glad I am finally get this out there for people as a reference point. I know lots of people use normal diapers and my friends even told me you can get diaper discount codes to make diapers more affordable! I like cloth diapers though. As of right now, we have three brands of cloth diapers, and they are all pocket diapers. We use Charlie Banana, Fuzzi Bunz, and Maci Grace. We also use cloth wipes, and surprisingly love them! Well I love them J is still a little skiddish about them 😉
For those who are just considering doing cloth, I highly encourage it. Here is a basic run-down of all the options for you out there:

  • The most basic and cheapest option is Prefolds. A prefold is a large piece of fabric {can be any type ranging from cotton to hemp} that you use snaps and a cover with. Prefolds are nice if you have the time and patience, and really want to CD but don’t have much money to spend. You can have a ton of prefolds and only a few covers since you only have to wash the cover if it gets messy {you can usually get 2-3 wears out of it}.

 

 

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  • The next cheapest option is using Fitted diapers. These diapers are basically a prefold that is already in the shape you need, and has snaps or velcro built in. They still require covers, but again you only need a few covers for your stash. These are really great for babies that are really heavy wetters. The other nice thing about Fitteds is that you can get the diaper to be whatever absorbent material you like, and same for the cover.

 

 

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  • What we use, Pocket diapers. These diapers have a waterproof outer layer, and then a pocket inside that you insert absorbent layers in to. The nice thing with pockets is that you can use whatever type of inserts you want, and however many you want. In reality I cannot imagine using three inserts, but i’ve heard some do. Pockets go on as easily as a disposable {especially if you get ones with velcro instead of snaps}.
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  • The final type is an All in One{AIO}, or All in Two{AI2}. These are the easiest to use of cloth diapers. AIO are truly like a disposable, because they are one piece. No stuffing inserts needed, no cover needed, its all together. AI2s are super simple as well, except you can put in a liner that allows you to reuse the cover, and some AI2s even come with disposable liners that make CDing while traveling a whole lot easier. The down side to AIO and AI2s is that they take a lot longer to dry, and tend to show wear faster.
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Now that i’ve shown all the options out there, i’ll show y’all what we do over here.
This is our set-up. I have our cloth wipes to the left, the diapers in the main top drawer, and the wet bag off to the right:

Our wetbag is by Planet Wise, and it rocks. Baby poop doesn’t exactly smell lovely, and between his diapers and wipes you smell nothing. Seriously. I generally have dirty diapers in there for about two days before doing wash and you smell not one trace of it in the room. We simply attached a hook to the wall and hang the bag from there. If you are wanting one that you can simply hang from the door, you can use something like this, or if you are wanting a diaper pail with a liner, then this is great. Our large bag holds about two days worth of diapers and wipes {approx. 15 diapers plus wipes} which for me is perfect because it makes me do laundry then. I could’ve gotten a bigger bag and more diapers, but I don’t like letting them sit for too long. Now, if you used prefolds or fitteds you could fit a whole lot more in that bag, but with pockets {or AIO/AI2} they take up much more room.

Our drawer set up isn’t that fancy, just functional. I always have all the diapers stuffed prior, and laying the same direction. Braylen is an insane heavy wetter so each of his diapers is always double stuffed. I think he could get away with using one insert if I was changing his diaper every 1-2 hours, but usually its more like 3 hours {unless theres poop obviously}, since he naps for about 2 hours always. By doing the double stuffing he never has leaks or blowouts, which I love. The thing that makes me nervous though is if he needs double stuffing during the day for a 3 hour period, how on earth could he go all night?! Well- since he just started sleeping through the night, I am not willing to risk him waking up because his diaper is leaking…so we use size 3 Huggies Overnights on him at night. They work fantastic! And I figure, one diaper a day of disposable is a whole lot better than 7+!

Our wipes are so easy to do/use. I have two types of wipes I use- one thinner and smaller for pee, one more heavy duty for poop. I keep them warm in our Munchkin wipe warmer.

For the wipe solution I keep it as simple as possible. It takes about 1 1/2 glasses of water, and I put a few glug’s {so technical I know} of the baby castile soap in before pouring the solution over the wipes. I could pull out the wipes from the opening on top, but I find it easier to simple open it up and grab whatever one I need.

Here are the little tips and steps I follow to get the diapers on, and fast:
  • For the Charlie Banana and Fuzzi Bunz diapers, they both come with a small and large insert. The MG diapers simply come with two of the same size. Here is the comparison in size for the CB’s:

Since Braylen is a tummy sleeper, I need to always make sure that he has the most coverage in the front. I simply make sure that I have the two inserts stacked so that the overlap is fully in front, and the spot missing the extra length is towards his back. I also always make sure to have the tags right at the opening. This makes getting the inserts out a piece of cake.

Since these diapers are all a little sticky on the inside I have learned that it helps to put the inserts in with my hand almost in a fist. It helps shove the insert in, but not get caught up on the sticky side:

Bray wanted in on this photo apparently;)

The FB and CB diapers have adjustable elastic. The CB elastic adjusts only in the legs, and uses something similar to a bra strap adjuster, with labels of S,M,L, etc. It is super easy to adjust, and in the two months that Bray has been in cloth I have never had to re-adjust them. Here is CB elastic:

The FB has adjustable elastic at the legs and waist. You simply put the button through the hole and tuck the remainder in the slot above:
Here is FB suggested sizing chart. I started off using the numbers off of the chart, but have found that Bray needed something different. Always just adjust to what fits your baby best.
One Size Elite Diaper Sizing Guide
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  • For getting them on, I always snap the hip snaps first, and then the waist snaps:
Pretty sure hes saying “Dont you dare judge my ‘inny’ nips;)”

With the MG and the Charlie Bananas they have a ton of flexibility in the waist area for snaps since you dont have any elastic you can adjust there. Both diapers have the ability to snap over each other:

  • And then once the baby gets a little bigger, you can do the normal snaps, and keep on adjusting
For FB diapers I still put both inserts in, with the overlapping part up front. The main thing you want to be careful with on these diapers is making sure that everything stays inside. I make sure that the inserts are tucked in:

Then I make sure that the fleece is tucked in. If this part is sticking out past the outer layer, then when the baby pees the wetness totally seeps out and on to clothes. Not that I have learned this the hard way are anything;)

The FB have a great fit on Braylen. Thats another thing to keep in mind, every diaper fits every baby differently. The only worry I have with FB is that he won’t be able to wear them all the way through potty training because they will end up too small.

The MG baby diapers are the only ones I have that don’t have any adjustable elastic. Instead of adjusting the elastic on the legs or waist, they have it there already set. Instead, you adjust it all by snaps. Currently I snap up the front because otherwise the diaper is way too long for Braylen. To be honest, these are my least favorite of my diapers. I feel as though, even with using double inserts, these always have a tendency to leak with him. By no means everytime, but more often than I would like. Luckily every diaper I own I have gotten on some sort of ‘steal’ site Babysteals, Zulily, Baby Half Off}, so I have always paid 1/2 price.
Now lets talk about how I get these things clean! It is actually so easy it’s kind of ridiculous. Before I ever throw any diaper in to my wet bag I always take the inserts out. This helps not only prevent the diapers from ever getting mold but also makes washing them a breeze. For my FB I can almost always get the inserts out simply by shaking the diaper in to the bag, the CB diapers I usually just pull the tags, and the MG babys I have to pull it out just a little and then shake the rest.
To wash them I simply turn the bag inside out inside the washer, never having to touch any of the dirty diapers and wipes in there! We have a front loader Samsung VRT Steam washer and dryer. I add in all the extra settings like Prewash and Extra rince, make sure that its sets to hot/cold, and Heavy soil, and then save it to My Cycle, so that every time I do diapers I just have to hit the My Cycle button. You want to make sure that you have a cold rinse with no detergent first, then a hot wash, finished by a cold rinse. {Also side note, cloth diapering was how I manipulated J into letting me get new front loaders, so if you want to be a sneaky wife and get a new set just say you really want to CD 😉 That and I thought we would no longer need dry cleaning, but I ended up shrinking his shirts.}

I recently switched over to using Rockin Green’s Hard Rock, Rage Against the Raspberries. We for sure have hard water here, so their Hard Rock is a must. You could totally get the Bare Naked Babies and end up with the same result as the Raspberry one, since they all come out with zero fragrance, but I love the way the raspberry once smells out of the carton;) Since I have a front loader I only use two tablespoons each time I do wash. It comes in a resealable bag, but I like to keep mine in a tupperware. Easier access and less mess for me:
For drying, I have two different methods. If I am in a time crunch, or its cold, or not sunny out- I will use the dryer. I make sure that it is on whatever your dryers version of tumble dry with low heat is, mine is Delicates.

If the weather is permitting for them to be outside, I definitely prefer that. J hasn’t built us a clothes line yet, since we can’t seem to find an appropriate spot for one in the back. So for now, its the front porch swing…I know- we like to keep things classy around here:) The sun is incredible at not only drying them fast, but also works as a natural bleach, taking out any possible stain. I don’t usually dry my wipes out here though because they come back a little too crunchy for his booty.

So friends, this is how we do it. It might not be your preferred method, but it works the best for us. For those who are just considering doing cloth, totally do it! Don’t, I repeat, don’t get a huge bunch of one brand. That specific brand might not fit well on your kid, or randomly might make them have a reaction of some sort {Bray has never even had as much as a diaper rash since being in his CDs…while he did when in disposable}. Luckily, the diapers have a pretty good re-sale rate, but still just don’t buy your whole stash in one type. Hope this helps y’all…now I gotta go change a diaper…just kidding- hes in bed and im enjoying a nice glass of wine:):)

Comments

  1. the back of the bus. says

    Thank you so much for writing this great post!! I’m almost 12 weeks pregnant with my first baby and I’m so excited to use cloth but have been struggling with where to start. This post has really helped me understand the world of cloth! Thanks again 🙂

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  2. Holy Craft says

    Well written! I loved using cloth diapers for my kids. The major bonus with a girl is the adorable prints, but the biggest bonus of all is early potty training! My two youngest (tried CD’s with the oldest…didn’t do it right and hated it) potty trained before they were a year old, never had any accidents (even at night) and no set backs. They are so easy and cheap!!!

  3. Rachel P says

    Your system is very similar to the way I used to do things. I preferred velcro closures to the snaps though. Although the older version of Fuzzi Bunz mediums were one of my favs. They seemed to fit forever.

    A tip for future issues-as boys get older it seems like nothing will contain that pee! But, I found that switching back to using prefolds as an insert folded in thirds worked like a charm and they hold more/better than the microfiber inserts do. I also had hemp inserts that worked amazingly well as holding lots of pee.

    When my youngest was around a year I switched over to using prefolds in covers-the thirsties covers were my favorite. I just folded it in thirds and set inside the cover so it was just as easy as a pocket again.

    I’m sure you hear a lot how much extra work it must be to have to use cloth, as I always did, but I seriously never felt like it added any extra work to my day! I always told people that if I still choose to do it with 4 kids, then it must not be too bad lol.

    Rachel
    http://www.trendybaby.etsy.com

  4. Bre Chang says

    Thank you for this! I follow you on IG and wanted to hear about hypnobabies (as I am 20 weeks pregnant with my second). This has inspired me to do cloth again! Great post!!!

  5. Emma says

    Excellent post, thanks! You have completely converted my thinking. I love that you are so detailed with brands and settings and stuff, and have pictures for everything. I really need it simplified like that!

  7. adrianne says

    Back of the bus- I am SO glad I was able to help you. It seriously is so great using them- so I hope you figure out something that works for you:) Congrats on the babe:)
    Bre- Oh gosh- hypnobabies and cloth- two of my favorite things:) But really, I hope your birth goes beautifully!
    Emma- so glad to help!! Hope you end up using them and loving them:)
    Domecfam- SO fun about our Braylens! I have never met another one:)

  8. Haley Hill says

    I have to write and say I love your blog and have gotten so much good information about it! I am 27 weeks pregnant and starting hypnobabies classes next week! I’m also planning on doing CD and have been obsessively researching different types and ways of doing it. I loved reading your blog about these things because I feel like you are similar to me in a lot of ways so it’s really helpful to get your feedback on CD, and natural birth!

    Thanks so much again and one other question-how many CD do you have and would you recommend for doing laundry every other day or so? Thanks again!

    Wow I am not a robot but I’ve tried 5 times and can’t get the captcha right…those can be a bit annoying 🙂

  9. adrianne says

    Haley-congrats!!! You are going to love Hypnobabies!! Seriously! As far as how many-I just added two more to my stash so I now have 17. I do wash about every other day and that leaves me with two diapers always while the wash is going. I don’t CD overnight. I might consider it once I strop feeding him at 10pm, but until then I use disposable at bed. He’s up for about 1 1/2 hours at a time, and sleeps for about 2 hours. So I change him right when he gets up and then right before he goes back down-so the longest the diaper is ever on him is about 2-2 1/2 hours. Hope this helps! You are going to have a beautiful birth-I’m so excited for you!

  10. Lisa ~~ www.bringheritaghome.com says

    Love love your blog!! We just had our first baby – Jake on 10-11-12!! I have been following your pregnancy and first months of Bray’s life. So helpful!! We are also cloth diapering and have the same washer dryer! It was so helpful to hear about your washing method. I was doing two seperate washes until you posted about the My Cyle option with the prewash. Duh! Thank you

  11. adrianne says

    Lisa,
    Congrats! What a fun birthday!! I am so glad we have the same washers because its always easiest when someone can tell you their exact settings:) hope you enjoy CDing as much as we do!

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  17. Michelle says

    I know this post was written a while ago, but just curious if you’ve ever had to strip your diapers, and if so, how you did it in this washing machine??

    • Adri says

      I did. I know they say to not use bleach no matter what- but that was THE ONLY thing that ever helped when stripping was needed. I would just do about a cup of bleach in the wash after already running a normal wash cycle. Also, air drying them out side helps immensely.

  18. Kari says

    Did you ever have problems with the cloth wipes in the warmer (mold, bacteria) or were you rotating them out enough it was never an issue? Thanks!

  19. Tyler says

    I was wondering if your washer was energy efficient. I think I might run into problems because my front loader HG washer doesn’t use a lot of water.