Cloth Diapering Part 1!

Cloth Diapering Part 1!

Okay so I get asked questions allllll the time about cloth diapering, so I figured why not do a blog post about it! I will probably have to break this up into multiple posts so this is part 1!

Okay! Here is why I started with cloth-

Before I had Kanaan when I thought about cloth diapers, I thought of like those baby dolls that you safety pin a piece of fabric around the baby. I had no idea the world of cloth diapering was so much more advanced! After I got pregnant, I started following lots of cute moms and noticed some of their babies had the cutest little cloth diapers on. I also just began talking to a lot of people I knew, and it seems that the people who did choose to cloth diaper loved it. I still wasn't totally convinced yet, so I stumbled into a cloth diapering store here in OKC and was totally convinced. 

Now to convince my husband.... 🤔😂

That was actually a lot easier than I thought. All I had to do was show him how much money we would save if we chose to do cloth diapers. We both wanted to protect Kanaan from as much chemicals as we could, and it is crazy how many chemicals are in disposable generic diapers. Cloth diapering was just another way we were able to do this! A lot of people say they get diapers for showers and we did get a few (we used those for vacations/trips!) but we also got almost all our cloth diapers from our showers as well. It can be a bigger initial investment since one diaper is about the price of a package of diapers, but we have never had to buy any since then (the diapers grow with baby, but I'll get into that later). We also have not noticed an increase in our water bill from laundry. The biggest money saver will be for our next baby! 

Okay so before I get into my favorite diapers and products in my next post, I'll explain the how. 

There are lots of different kinds of cloth diapers but most of them go on just like a normal diaper, no extra steps necessary. The best part is that these diapers NEVER stink. I think that disposables smell bad even just when wet because of the chemicals. This doesn't happen with cloth! And we have only had one blowout in 16 months. Like poop has only been on clothes one time. 🙌🏼 One of the hard parts in the beginning is figuring out generally how much/long your type of diaper will hold and getting used to the changing schedule just like anything else. Early on, I would change Kanaan about every 3 hours (except night) but now he goes more like 5 hours unless he specifically needs more and goes all night without needing a change. 

When baby is wet, you simply grab a cloth wipe (just like a wash cloth or piece of fabric) either get it wet or make/buy a bottom spray and wipe like usual. Place diaper and wipe in a wet bag or diaper pail. The same goes for when you are out and about. Just put in a zipper wet bag and store in diaper bag until you get home. Easy! If baby is exclusively breastfed, their poop is water solluable and you can literally throw them straight in your wash. If baby is eating solids or on formula you can dump the poo in the toilet or spray it off (I can explain the spraying in the next post). It's so easy! Once our diaper pail bag is full (or no more than 3-4 days) I dump that bag inside out and wash the bag and diapers all together in the wash. I actually Lao wash Kanaan's clothes too. You would literally never know. You can clean your washing machine easily with baking soda, vinegar, and thieves cleaner. I only do that once a month and have never had any problems with smell. Once washed, I throw mine in the dryer, some people choose to hang dry because it increases the lifetime of the diaper. I just don't have time or room for that, so dryer it is!

You want to make sure that you do not use certain diaper rash creams and some detergents because they can mess with the absorbency of the diaper and/or not kill bacteria effectively. I love Thieves liquid detergent and Biokleen. You can also make your own diaper rash cream super easily! I have never had to do this, but if you do ever notice a stink or baby's bottom gets a rash you can "strip" the diaper of any chemicals or residue from detergents, creams, lotions, etc. To strip the diapers there are many recipes out there, but basically it involves using boiling water and a mineral solution to clean and rinse again with water. 

Another question people ask me about is why their cloth diapers leak. First a diaper brand new won't reach maximum absorbency until about 12 washes because they are made from natural plant fibers and have to break in. You can wash before a few times or do what I did- I washed once first, then just new to change them more often for the first month. The second and most popular reason a diaper is leaking is that it is not on tight enough. You want the diaper really snug around the waist band and legs!

That is a lot of info! Please comment any questions if I didn't get yours answered. The next post I will explain my fave diapers and products to go with cloth diapering! 😊