Cloth Diapering Made Easy!

The other day I was visiting with a woman who is currently in the process of adopting two children from Russia.  Her backyard was amazing.  The perfect place for kids to play all day long.  But it wasn't just the the lush fruit trees, the swing or the sandbox that caught my eye.  To my amusement and delight was the sight of an abundance of cloth diapers hanging from the patio. 

She is currently budgeting to the penny so they can afford the adoptions of their daughter and son who are currently living in Russian orphanages.  One of the things that really helps with saving is not having to buy any diapers or wipes for their 19 month old boy.

I cloth diapered my first daughter for her first 6 months, my second daughter only a few times and then decided to give it another shot with Tennyson when he was first born.  I bought a bunch of the newborn all-in-one style diapers off of Craigslist, which was a steal, and also bought some large ones for the girls for potty training.  I used them for a few months then went back to disposables once Tennyson grew out of the newborn cloth diapers.  After seeing all of these diapers hanging up, and her asking me why I don't cloth diaper, I had to stop and ask myself, "Yeah, why don't I cloth diaper?".  You know what my excuse has been and the reason I quit every time?  "I don't have a toilet sprayer to wash the poo off".  Well, how easy would it be to just order one? I let the trouble I always had with "swishing" the poopy diapers in the toilet stop me from saving thousands of dollars in the past 4 years and I was OVER it! I went home and a day later decided I was breaking out my stash, and going for it again.  I was completely out of disposable baby wipes, so it was actually perfect timing to switch. 

Here is my stash of cloth diapering essentials.  I have about 100 more of the white prefold diapers in a tote.  Every single time I break out the cloth diapers I think, "Why did I ever stop using these?  They are so easy and so cute!". 

So now, I am going to share my knowledge with all who are wondering what modern day cloth diapering looks like, and perhaps inspire some to make the switch. Or if you are expecting a baby, to consider cloth instead of disposables. Trust me, it is so easy and saves you thousands of dollars! Here is a link to a breakdown of the savings of cloth diapering FuzziBunz Cost Comparison. 

So first thing you need is some cloth baby wipes. You can buy them in all different kinds of fabrics, and there are so many places online you can find them. I just made my own out of old receiving blankets  gifted to me at my baby showers, but had never used. I washed my material, cut it into 8"x8" squares and sewed two pieces together per wipe. Super easy, and it didn't cost me anything :) To learn about how to make up a solution to wet your wipes click on this link Cloth Wipe Solutions. 

The next thing you need are diapers.  There are a lot of options out there but pretty much you are going to be choosing between a diaper wrap and an all-in-one diaper.  This is a "Thirsties" wrap.  It is a diaper cover that is made of PUL (Polyurethane Laminated Fabric) that is waterproof.  To use, you take a white prefold diaper or other diaper insert, fold it into thirds and then just lay it on the wrap.  Lay your baby on the diaper, and fasten it with the Velcro just as you would a disposable diaper.  Easy!

One benefit of using a wrap is that you can reuse the wrap over and over again throughout the day and just change the prefold inside. Since it is a waterproof material, all you need to do if your baby had a wet diaper is remove the soiled diaper, wipe the wrap down and lay a clean diaper inside!

The next option is to get an all-in-one diaper, or "pocket diaper".  This is a "FuzziBunz" which I love!  A soft fleece fabric is attached to the waterproof cover and on the back end there is a pocket where you insert either a prefold diaper or a special absorbent pad that comes with the diaper.  The good thing about the pockets is that you can stuff them as light or as full as you want depending on how heavy a wetter you have or the time of day.  They also keep the baby drier since the fleece wicks away moisture to the diaper you have stuffed into the pocket.  Just like the wrap, you simply lay your baby on the diaper and snap it together in the same fashion you would a disposable. 

I love snaps!  The good thing about snaps is your baby can't pull the diapers off as easy as Velcro.  I found out quickly that Tennyson likes to pull his Velcro diapers off.  Not because he doesn't like them, but because it is so fun to do so! 

Now for the most important thing for cloth diapering success, I swear.  This was like the make it or break it for me.  The toilet sprayer!  I have never had one of these, hence my reverting back to disposable diapers on three different occasions. When it would come time to get the poo off the diaper, I would have to swish the diaper in the toilet, flush, swish again, flush again, and then put the diaper in the pail and flush one more time!  It was so gross and so annoying! I hated how much water I was wasting too.  I just bought my first sprayer that has already changed the whole cloth diapering game for me in a huge way.  I feel so empowered now that I have the right tool! 

The sprayer I got is called a Mini-Shower and cost me about $55 and I installed it myself in about 5 minutes.  In addition to using it for my diapers, I have also used it to clean my toilet and for personal hygiene.  I seriously wish someone would have told me about this earlier in my life, and especially after having a baby or during my cycle!  Who doesn't want that fresh out of the shower feeling, or clean water to spray the toilet down after washing it?

So how do you clean a poopy diaper?  When your baby has a poo you wipe his bum with a baby wipe, put the wipe inside the diaper and roll it up. Then after you have put another diaper on your baby, take the soiled diaper to the toilet and unroll. Turn the sprayer on and hose off the poo from the wipe and then the diaper. If you have an all-in-one diaper, pull out the inserts from the pocket, and toss in the hamper first before rinsing the liner.  Once rinsed and in the hamper, flush the toilet and you are done.  Don't forget to wash your hands ;)

Another essential, which I didn't have before is a water proof reusable "wet bag".  It is made out of PUL just like the diaper covers and is for all of your wet diapers and wipes.  The cool thing about this is that you don't have to keep using wasting plastic bags to line your hamper or wash out your hamper if you don't have a liner! When you are ready to wash your diapers, simply grab the bag with everything in it and toss them all into the washing machine!  EASY!  They also make small ones with zippers or drawstrings to bring with you on the go so cloth diapering can be nearly as easy and convenient as disposables.

Inside the hamper.

Since the point of cloth diapering is to save money and the environment, it is important to use the right detergent to wash them.  Regular detergents, bleach, fabric softeners and drier sheets all have ingredients that will break the diapers down, especially the PUL, and make the diapers repel liquid instead of absorb it.  This is a detergent called Rock In Green and it only takes between 1 and 3 Tbsp per load depending on the load size and the kind of washer you have.  This amounts to just pennies per load!

The general rule of thumb for washing cloth diapers is to run them in a rinse cycle, then a warm wash cycle, and then one extra rinse cycle.  If you have particularly soiled ones, or just want extra sanitation, you can run a soak cycle instead of the first rinse cycle.

Once washed, dry your diapers on a clothesline in the sun.  The sun not only dries the diapers, but it bleaches the stains as well!  Most of the pads and prefolds you get with the diapers are made of hemp, fleece or wool.  All which dry nicely in the sun and retain their softness.  I have just been using my plain old cotton prefolds, and have noticed that they get crunchy in the sun and feel pretty harsh.  I will be going back to drying those in the drier, but still line drying all of the covers and all-in-ones.  Once a month, the manufacturers of the covers suggest you dry them in the drier for about 20 minutes on high to re-seal the PUL fabric.  Do not dry more than the manufacturer's recommendations, as this can ruin the water proof of your diaper and also cause it to break down.

 

Voila!  It's that easy.  Wouldn't it be so nice to have your little one wearing one of these adorable reusable cloth diapers? Ah, sweet relief from the endless disposables!

Above is Tennyson all snuggly in his FuzziBunz and below is him showing off his Thirsties.

FOR ALL YOU CRAFTY MOMS:

If you want to be extra frugal and super cool like me, you can make your own diapers!!  Although I have a great stash of diapering essentials, I have found that the diapers I do have don't quite fit Tennyson perfectly at the size he is right now.  They make diapers that are literally one size, from birth to potty training, but none of the diapers I bought are one-size.  They are small, medium and large.  My Thirsties are size medium and seem a bit small for Tennyson and he's not gonna stop growing.  My FuzziBunz I had bought for potty training my girls and are size large, so a tad too big.  So in the mean time, I am making my own size medium pocket diapers using the pattern and materials from Babyville Boutique sold at Joann Fabric stores. The thing I like about diapers that are sized in small, medium and large are that they are slimmer than the one-size diapers which adjust not only in the waist and the thighs, but in the rise as well. It is obviously cheaper to buy one-sized diapers that will last you the whole time you are diapering your baby, but since I started out with the multiple sizes, the cheaper route for me right now is to just make my own in the size I don't currently have. Here is a photo of the supplies I bought for my first 3 all-in-one diapers. 

And here is how my first diaper turned out!  LOVE IT!

I'm not kidding you, every time I change my baby's diaper I feel like giving myself a pat on the back.  I feel like someone is standing next to me saying, "You're such a good mommy"!  Not only am I saving money and the environment, but I am putting some seriously soft material on my baby's bum bum and snuggling him with coziness :)  Hopefully you will decide to try it yourself.  It's so great!

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