And now for a post that’s a bit more “living” than straight up “home improvement” related. When people ask what question we get here at YHL most often, they’re probably expecting it to be about paint or demo. Not so. It is, without a doubt, some iteration of the following:
How are you liking cloth diapers? How many do you have? What brand are they? Did you get the kind with the liners/inserts? Do they work? Does Clara like them? Are they difficult? Do you regret it? Is it annoying to wash them? Do they really get clean? Are there times when you don’t use them and opt for disposables? How long will they last? Are they bulky? What do you do when you’re out running errands? How exactly do you wash them? What colors did you get? How do you store them when they’re dirty? Does Clara have a lot of blowouts with them? Do they give her diaper rash?
Who knew it could be such a hot topic? But we’re happy to address the many (many) questions that we’ve received right here in this surprisingly exhaustive post. So fasten your seat belts and get ready to read the word poop at least once. And by all means, if you’re not a parent and have no interest in hearing about baby bodily functions, skip this post and stay tuned for more house-related fare tomorrow. You have been warned…
After a lot of research and chats with family and friends who went the cloth diaper route, we settled on the Bum Genius Elemental One Size All In Ones – the ones that are organic with snaps instead of velcro. They’re so easy to use and should last us through multiple kiddos. We’ve heard that velcro can wear out after tons of washings but snaps are good for the long haul so that’s why we opted for that feature. As for inserts or liners, the ones that we chose don’t have them. We figured if we were going to have to wash part of the diaper we might as well get all in ones and wash them all (instead of dealing with liners/inserts). It seemed simpler and so far we have found them to be extremely easy. Plus we love that they’re one-size-fits-all, which will save us a ton of money (they adjust with some easy snapping to accommodate Clara as she grows).
The dozen that we purchased should not only last us through Clara’s potty training days but we expect to use the same dipes for future bambino(s) as well. We picked up 12 and have never needed more than that thus far but we wouldn’t mind 18, which seems to be the magic number for many other cloth diapering parents. We might grab six more someday, but we’re definitely getting by with 12 so far. Oh and as for diapering duty, you might be shocked to hear that John changes way more diapers than I do around here. He sweetly decided that if I would be feeding her multiple times a day, he could be the go-to diaper guy, which is such a big help and actually really cute to watch (Clara loves to pee on him from time to time).
And as for washing them, we’ve found that with a baby you’re always doing laundry anyway. So tossing in one big load of diapers every day-and-a-half or so is no trouble at all. Really, we anticipated the switch from disposables to cloth diapers to be waaay harder (Clara didn’t fit into her cloth diapers for the first 9 weeks so we had some time to get used to disposables and were shaking in our boots about making the switch). Thankfully it was really easy and fun. They’re just so darn cute on her, and she seems really comfortable and happy in them too. Speaking of the aesthetic factor, we got three orange ones (clementine), three green ones (grasshopper), three light blue ones (twilight), and three yellow ones (butternut). That way they’re gender neutral for any bambinos down the line.
How has our experience with cloth diapering been so far? In short: we love them, they’re no harder than disposables (the time we spend tossing them in the wash seems equal to the time we used to spend trudging out to the store to buy disposables before Clara could fit into her cloth dipes). Clara seems to love them more than disposables too (she sleeps longer at night, never appears uncomfortable, etc) and she has experienced 95% fewer blowouts and zero diaper rash since trading up from disposables (where those occurrences were a tad more frequent). Oh and the only time we don’t use them is when we travel overnight somewhere, since it’s more of a challenge to wash them while road tripping.
And have we mentioned that they’re hugely cost effective? Especially thanks to our Energy Star front loading washer and dryer (which make the cost of cleaning them negligible and keep our water/energy usage extremely low). We also often line dry our diapers out in the sun to save even more energy and keep them looking mint (more info on that in a minute). For around $265 (for a 12-pack of cloth diapers) we have unlimited dipes on hand for the rest of Clara’s diapering days. Plus we’re not sending tons of disposable diapers to the landfill so that makes us feel good. In retrospect, the only thing we would have done differently is purchase some newborn sized Bum Genius diapers as well. The one-size-fits-all versions are a bit loose on most newborns, so they also make cloth newborn-sized dipes, which we opted to skip since we didn’t know how big Clara would be at birth (the doc estimated she’d be 10lbs (!) but she was only 7lbs 10 oz in the end). So since we skipped the newborn sized cloth diapers, Clara’s first nine weeks were spent in Seventh Generation disposable diapers- and we learned just how expensive the non-reusable diaper route really was.
We’re actually happy we experienced life with disposables so we have some point of comparison. If we hadn’t relied on them at first, we never could have kept track of the money we spent on them (and the money that we would thereby be saving moving forward). After nine weeks of disposable diapering we had spent more than $180. That’s only a bit less than we spent on our entire stock of Bum Genius diapers that will easily last through the end of Clara’s diaper days and hopefully through future babies’ as well! And by our $180 for 9 weeks estimation, we could have easily spent another $3000+ on disposable diapers to last her until she turns two. Crazy, right? We also hope to make the change to cloth wipes sometime soon for even more savings in the future (we’re currently using Seventh Generation ones, which we like a lot).
As for our dirty diaper system, we have a pail for dipes and a smaller pail for wipes in the nursery (we snagged both pails at World Market). We rinse the dirty (read: not just wet) ones with the diaper sprayer that we mentioned a while back (pictured above). Some people say that you don’t need to spray dirty diapers when a baby is exclusively breastfeeding but we have found that a quick spray helps them come out a lot cleaner and less discolored so it’s worth it to us (and for what it’s worth, our friend Katie Bower also had the same experience). What can we say, we’re pro-spray kinda girls. And it only takes a second. It’s kind of fun too (but I won’t get into that as I’m probably one of the weirdest people on the planet since I get an inordinate amount of joy from cloth diapering).
After spraying the dirty ones, we place them in the larger pail, while only-wet ones go right into the same pail without a spray. The dirty wipes go straight into the smaller pail for disposal (both pails are lined with “recycled” plastic bags that we have laying around from places like Target when we mindlessly forget our reusable ones). Note: we hung the pails off of the hard-to-see corner of the dresser with coat hooks and anchors, which keeps them much easier to reach than placing the pails on the floor. Then we added small strips of weatherstripping on the bottom edge of the pails (where they meet the dresser) to keep them from scratching the wood.
We haven’t experienced any issues with odor thanks to the lids (of course we hear that things can get stinkier once we transition to solid foods but we have a few family friends who still use the pail method so we don’t anticipate having a problem as long as we continue to wash our diapers every day and a half or so). Which brings us back to dirty diaper laundering. As recommended by Bum Genius, we prefer to launder them at least every other day. We usually wash 11 of them in one big load every day-and-a-half while Clara wears the remaining 12th diaper- that way we’re not washing just a few at a time.
And as for our detergent, we use Seventh Generation Free & Clear (update: we learned our diapers would last even longer thanks to Charlie’s Soap Laundry Powder so that’s now all that we use) and we just wash them once on the warm heavy duty setting and either machine dry them or lay them out in the sun. We have heard that you can do a cold pre-wash before the warm heavy duty wash, but so far that hasn’t been necessary (possibly because we pre-spray the dirty diapers into the toilet as soon as they come off).
Oh and we learned that occasionally one may come out of the wash with a slight orange tinge (very rarely, this isn’t an everyday thing). The good news is that it’s 100% clean and sanitized, sometimes one every few weeks is just a bit discolored from breastfeeding poop (since the pure organic cotton liners are awesomely absorbent). It’s kind of like how old tupperware containers can get stained from tomato sauce and even if you run them through the dishwasher and they’re totally clean they can still have that tint. Luckily we learned if you lay them out in the sun while they’re still moist from the washer it bleaches them white again- it’s like magic! Seriously, you might want to cross your fingers for that tinge every once in a while just for the fun of seeing the sun undo it in a few hours. We wish Clara was old enough to watch in wonder like we do. She’d probably make this Zoolander face:
Oh and they’re also pretty easy on the go (we only use disposables when we’re traveling somewhere overnight, but for day trips and errands and things we stick to cloth). If we have to do a diaper change while we’re out – at Home Depot for example, haha – we just slip the dirty cloth diaper into a plastic bag and rinse it when we get home. We hope to upgrade to a reusable zippered wet bag for dirty diapers while we’re on the go (we currently just reuse Target bags and stuff that we have laying around) since we’ve heard those work well and contain everything nicely (no smells or leaks).
Now for the bulkiness question. They’re definitely a bit bulkier than disposables but nothing too terrible. In fact we think they’re super cute! Clara can still fit into a few newborn sized outfits with them on and she’s almost three months old! So they can’t be that huge, right?
So there you have it. Over 2,000 words on cloth diapering. Can you tell we’re enthusiastic? Of course this is a completely personal parent-how-you’d-like-to decision, so we’re just sharing our experience when it comes to diapering. And we’re not anti-disposable by any means! Tons of our family and friends opted to go that route because it worked best for their household and we still rely on disposables when we travel. If there’s one thing we’ve learned in three months of parenting it’s that there’s no right way to raise your wee one, and it’s all about sussing out what works best for you and your family. So go forth and diaper your beans and beanettes any way you’d like with a smile on your face. Or am I the only weirdo who grins every time I snap a fresh diaper on those cute little buns?
UPDATE: We switched from diaper tins to wet bags a while back (since they’re super easy to toss into the laundry with our diapers too keep things smelling fresh – here’s that info for ya). As for how cloth diapering is going, we still love and use the same 12 cloth diapers that we purchased over a year ago! That’s it (we haven’t purchased any more or tried any other brands). They still look mint, work well, and don’t smell or anything. Best money we ever spent.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Our cloth diapers are still holding up really well two years later. Check out the update post here.
Rebecca says
Thanks so much for posting about your diaper experience! My little Grace is 5 weeks old and still too tiny for cloth diapers, but I have about 6 bum genius style diapers (that my aunt bought for me on etsy) and I’m nervous about making the transition! i’m encouraged that you are getting by with only 12 since I was concerned that we might need to buy alot more before getting started.
I’m still a little intimidated by all the snaps and liners, but your post definitely encouraged me!
jessica says
Thankyou thankyou thankyou for all the info – I have been dying to pick yall’s brains on this subject. I am due in December and have been doing all sorts of research on the many brands out there and I am quite confused (by all the reviews).
HeatherG says
You two are so diplomatic – I love it. As Gisele has taught us;-) our choices as mothers can become a very dicey topic that invoke some pretty passionate responses. I love your ‘take it as it comes’ attitude. I think that is the absolute best approach to parenting. Research, ask other parents, have a plan of the path you want to take – but be open to changing those plans as you go. This applies to everything from the birth on. It has been so fun reading about your journey so far. And I SOOO wish they had cloth diapers like this when my “babies” were babies.
Jenn says
I’ll be sure to pass this along to my grade partner…she is due in Oct. and I’ll pass this along to my other grade partner, he’s got a 4 month old…in fact I will pass this along to several teachers I work with, they all have youngin’s or they are expecting…
Amanda L says
My sister-in-law uses a wet bag and its great. I think she actually had a friend who made it for her. She just throws the bag in with the diapers to sanitize it. She doesn’t rinse anything out, just throws it all in. It would certainly be a great investment for you guys I think!
Carmel says
I use birdseye cloth diapers with vinyl pants and fold them to size to fit the baby… of course that requires pins. I LOVE them! We are still going strong with kiddo #3, though I did have to replace a few as they lose absorbancy (sp?) over time and can become a little thin, but they are still way more cost effective than disposables. And I agree, no extra landfill waste from our home! : ) You are not the only one who is strangly joyous over cloth diapers. We only do 1 load a week (dirties are rinsed and all are soaked in Dreft & water) and I LOVE to hang them on our clothesline. We have an umbrella clothesline that can be brought in when not in use.
Love your website, you guys are awesome!
Torrie says
Check out clothdiaperclearance.com for small wet bags. We got 2 really cheap and they are supposedly seconds, but I don’t see anything wrong with them at all.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for all the wet bag links and suggestions everyone! We’ll definitely check them out!
xo,
s
laura says
I was wondering how they work in respect to how the diapers work haha. I’m a noob, but just found out we’re expecting. I would be worried once baby poos or pees that the outside would become soiled or damp? Or I guess they have an outer covering? Thank you! I’m trying hard to convince my husband to go this route, you’d think money saved would be enough, he he fears the extra work.
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, the outer layer is water and soilproof so nothing can soak through!
xo,
s
Laura J says
Good for you for cloth diapering! :) Nobody ever believes me when I tell them exactly how much money we have saved. LOL
As for the detergent you are using, Cotton Babies’ instructions I got with my BG’s says, specifically, to avoid free and clear detergents because the enzymes can damage the waterproofing. Just a thought. Mine only lasted about 14 months because we chose to ignore that tidbit. We ended up replacing our WHOLE stash with other brands– and we began using cloth-diaper-specific detergent.
YoungHouseLove says
I was just talking to John about getting some of the detergent that cloth diapering pros have recommended here in the comments. We’ll be sure to update this post if we do!
xo,
s
sarah says
another way to save some money: homemade laundry detergent. it is super easy, super cheap and smells fabulous! if is safe on all baby items, including cloth diapers. (i have only pre-washed my diapers as my bun in the oven is insistent on staying and baking a lot longer than planned…)
detergent:
3 cups washing baking soda
3 cups borax
3 cups fels naptha soap bars (ground up)
all items can be found on the laundry aisle at the grocery store. it’s all natural- no weird chemicals or ingredients you can’t pronounce! I usually double or triple the recipe and it lasts a really long time. if you have the HE washers, it only takes a very small amount of the detergent to clean a load (i don’t have one, but i understand it is only a few tablespoons).
Love your blog! thanks for all the helpful information you guys post on a daily basis.
Heather says
I feel like a major nerd: I am not even a mom and read this whole post word-for-word. My husband and I have been married almost a year and will probably start thinking about kids a few years out but I still think this is a great post for anyone with kids or anyone that will have kids someday.
A coworker uses cloth diapers, but I never knew how cost-effective they really were until I read this post. I know Ali Edwards (one of my other fave bloggers – a scrapbooker) uses cloth diapers too and she has mentioned the benefits and how far cloth diapers have really come since the days that our moms wore them!
LauraC says
I had no idea that there were “modern” (ie no pins, cute fabric) cloth diapers until after our daughter was born (2007) and I saw a lady changing her daughter in the Mom room at Babies r Us. Then I was fascinated. Thought they’d be great. The only thing that held me off was the washing – our set is definitely NOT energy efficient (avocado dryer anyone?) and I thought it would not be cheaper or better (water, electricity, all that extra soap in the environment) than disposables. Then we backpacked with our daughter when she was 15 months and used gDiapers because they’re compostable. They are fabulous!! Unfortunately, more $$ than regular cloth or disposables, but I really liked them when I used them, and think they combine the best of both worlds.
Now we have a four-month-old, and I still think cloth is great, but I’m also wondering about how clothes fit. I know Clara’s not wearing pants right now (summer in the south!) but I guess I worry about not having things fit when you add a super big (even if it is cute) cloth diaper. Do you know what I mean? If you have to go up a size to fit over a padded diaper, then pants/etc. won’t fit anywhere else. Would love to know what you discover! If we started now, it would still probably be cheaper . . .
YoungHouseLove says
Hey LauraC,
Clara actually wore jean leggings today (don’t ask) and they fit perfectly! The cloth diapers are definitely a bit bulkier than disposables, but she still fits into all of her clothes properly (she can even still wear some of her newborn shorts over her dipes… and she’s nearly three months old!
xo,
s
LauraC says
Sherry,
Thanks for the reply. But I feel a bit stupid now because after I posted my question, I re-read your post and there it was – you already addressed that concern! So sorry for the bother. Good night! (for you; it’s only 7:35 pm in WA!)
YoungHouseLove says
No worries! We babbled on for a while so we can totally see how someone could have missed something in our almost 2000 word diaper write up!
xo,
s
haus says
We’re still using our zippered wet bags – great for pool gear after swim class, dirty/wet clothes after an accident (potty training can be tough!), dirty clothes on trips, etc. I ended up with 3 sizes (s, m, l). They’re all the kind with a PUL liner and cute cotton print exterior, and I just threw them in with the diapers when they needed washing.
We loved the Bum Genius line, too. I even hauled clothies back and forth to day care for awhile, which was a bit of work, but totally worth it! My daughter had chronic diaper rash with disposables when she was wee, so cloth was the only way for us to go.
I even made my own reusable wipes – I cut some old, hand-me-down flannel receiving blankets into rectangles the same size as the disposable wipes and used the California Baby diaper area spray for cleaning. I just washed the wipes with the diapers.
It can be really satisfying not to have to go buy wipes and diapers every week or two!
Louise says
Wonderful post, very helpful. Thankyou for taking the time to write it! I especially was interested to hear you decided not to go with liners, the simplicity of that appeals to me :)
erin says
We just started CDs 2 weeks ago and it is going great! We are using fuzzi bunz, pocket with snaps… Loving them and have even gotten some Bum genius diapers for the night ( double stuff those bad boys! and it will last all night)
We love all the colors and are embracing summer when all you need is a bright cloth diaper and a t-shirt ( or nothing)
We use a wet bag as well ( large for collecting dirty diapers, and small to collect the dirty ones on the go ) I just wash the bags with the diapers and haven’t had any smelliness yet
Good luck!
e
Erin says
Q? What about detergent for He machines?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Erin,
Ours are HE and we use that (in the HE formula)- although thanks to many helpful cloth diapering pros who have commented we’ll probably be switching detergents (stay tuned to this post for an update if we make the switch).
xo,
s
Amanda @ longroadset says
I’ve never really given any thought to what I would do with my children when I decide to reproduce. But this would definately be something to consider. Maybe for me it would be ok for home, but I would have a hard time carrying poopy diapers around town. Lol. I’m really weak in the stomach.
M.C. says
I love cloth diaper posts! Unfortunately, I have to echo what tasha said. Our BumGenius dipes were only good for 2 years. For us, it was the elastic (both in the leg and in the back) that stretched out the the point of no longer containing the poop.
We also use Fuzzibunz and they have held up much more (for us). They were the first kind we used (for 6+ mos) before buying BGs to supplement and the Fuzzibunz are still going strong over three years later (on son #2).
katie f says
Good for you! I really REALLY wanted to cloth diaper, but found that the gdiapers came up too high and hurt my little chunky monkeys tummy. I have 3 bum genius that I’m working off of now, and saving up for more. The bum genius cut, for our girl, is much better than the gdiapers. Just fyi, for other moms/dads of big babies. ;)
Deidra says
To be the devil’s advocate a bit: I understand that cloth diapering is much better for the environment, but truly, if you are a coupon -bargain hunter, I would argue that they’re not much if any cheaper. Following frugalista blogs out there, you can find diaps from next to nothing if you play your Qs right. But, there again…you can’t get around the environment issue unless you’re using biodegradable. Just wanted to put that out there
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Deidra,
We always appreciate a little devil’s advocate around here! We know there are some pretty amazing disposable diaper sales, and we’re know for being pretty frugal and coupon-loving, but in our 9 weeks of using disposables it wasn’t always easy to score our diapers on sale or hunt down coupons regularly (especially since we were using Seventh Generation dipes without chlorine or other unnatural additives, so we only wanted to save on that brand instead of bouncing around to whatever was on sale). We kept track of how much we spent on nine weeks of disposable diapers and it was a whopping $180 (that included the use of coupons and a bunch of free diapers that we got at my baby shower)! That put us on track to spend over $3000 if Clara was in disposables until she was potty trained at two years old (which is still a pretty early guess for being out of diapers, and that also accounts for the fact that she’ll go through fewer diapers as she gets bigger). So instead of potentially spending thousands we spent just $265 (for a 12-pack of cloth diapers that are one-size-fits all). It definitely works for us! And of course we love the benefit of keeping diapers out of the landfill too!
xo,
s
Lauryn says
Sarah-thats the same recipe I use! Except we use grated ivory soap. :-)
JenS says
Yay for cloth diapering!! And it’s great that hopefully you’re inspiring so many more people to start CD’ing or at least consider it!
We’ve been cloth diapering since day 1 – well almost, like day 10 or something! We inherited a stash from my cousin (all Kissaluv fitteds – great, but require a cover, not so bad), and I built up a stash of goodmamas (plush and comfy, never leaked, also still required a cover) and we finally got a stash of BumGeniuses – mostly for daycare! Our daycare was Bright Horizons (they’re nationwide) and they allow cloth diapers as long as they’re “all in one” – snaps, velcro etc – as long as it was “just like a disposable”. We did a clean zippered wetbag every day, and they just bagged them and we took them home to wash.
Our BG stash was 20 maybe for full-time daycare, and I got to the point when my daughter (Amelia) was older that we only had to do diapers once a week.
I’ve also tried a zillion detergents – Charlie’s Soap, BumGenius brand, and now we’re on Planet – which I LOVE. It’s great, easy, and definitely no stink!
My recommendations – try goodmamas wetbags (www.thegoodmama.com)- they’re AWESOME and come in cute prints and different sizes. We use the “small” for going out during the day (just enough to fit 1 diaper), “mediums” for daycare, and the “large” for our 2 diaper pails (one by the changing table and one in the bathroom with the sprayer).
Also, goodmama has AMAZING wipes – cute prints on one side and organic bamboo velour on the other – SO soft. We got one of those wipe warmers as a gift and thought we wouldn’t use it, but it’s great for cloth wipes actually!
Thanks for promoting the CD’ing! I think it’s great!!
JenS says
BTW – did you guys see your diaper pail on ohdeedoh.com (apartment therapy) today? COOL!
YoungHouseLove says
No way! Off to check it out!
xo,
s
Momnivore's Dilemma says
YHL-
A few suggestions:
DIY your old receiving blankets into cloth wipes. They are very absorbent and you can customize your sizing for #1/#2 duties…
Get several size wetbags! I love the brand Wahmies…they’ve held up well with 3 years of abuse and two kids. I have two small, one medium, and two large. That way if one bag is in the wash, the other is on call.
Happy Diapering.
It does get nastier as solid food enters the picture and when kids approach 2/3 years old. But, squeamish we cloth-diapering parents aren’t.
Diaper sprayers are a wonderful gadget, even for disposable diapering parents…(where do they clean the blowouts???)
Off to wash the diapers!
kalen says
Ok I’m super impressed you are able to do this with just 12 diapers. I’m not even pregnant and that sounds crazy! Way to be environmentally friendly!
Stephanie says
Thanks for this post! and Heather, don’t feel like a nerd- I don’t have kids either and could not stop reading this!
My teacher colleague told me she was going to use cloth dippers and I thought how great and earth friendly. On the other hand I also thought C-R-A-Z-Y!! But after reading this, I am definitely going to give cloth diapers a try when I have kids, I even called my husband and told him about it! On a side note, I just want to say that my husband and I have just bought our first house and will move at the end of the month. I came across your website while looking for painting ideas. Your blog has been a Godsend!!! I absolutely LOVE it, and have gotten so many helpful hints, can’t thank you enough! I can’t wait to get started!
Natalija says
Hello from Lithuania (very small country :)) )
Thanks very much for all the job you do on this blog. You inspire me every time I read it. This post was sooo great! 14 years ago when my daughter was born I used cloth diapers and I had no washing machine :) The diapers were not waterproof, so I remember myself washing and washing, ironing and ironing (no dryer of course). I used simple soap, by the way, because of fear of allergy :)) But still I am happy, because it was greener way of living. Now we are planning the second child and I will definitely use those modern cloth diapers (they are so cute!). It is still much cheaper to get them from US or UK, than to use disposable ones bought here.
Water and energy consumption is higher this way, but using cooler washing cycle and nature-friendly detergents will less damage our planet than all those horrible mountains of disposable diapers, wipes and liners.
Good Luck for all of you :)
Meghan says
I feel like doing laundry every day and a half would add up in hydro and water bills. We have an energy efficient washer and dryer but you can still completely see when the washer was used (We have time of use billing so you can see each hour of usage) Currently we do laundry on weekend only because its cheap so I feel that the cost of laundry would go up huge. I’m still all for cloth diapers… but I think we’ll be going with a diaper service so we don’t have to do the laundry ourselves. In our area it is CHEAP to get them to bring us diapers and clean the dirty ones. We’ll see… we have until February to look into it all.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Meghan,
I think the fact that we have two dual flush toilets, a low flow shower, and a rain barrel help us save a ton of water in other areas, so we haven’t noticed any noticeable increase in our water bill since making the cloth diaper switch. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Holly says
I also cloth diapered. I just wanted to give anyone out there a tip. Now that my son is two and we go swimming on occasion we used his bum genius 3.0 diapers without any inserts as a swim diaper. They are way easier to get on and off. He has pooped in the pool once and it contained everything. It’s just a nice way to get around buying those very overpriced swim diapers.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Holly,
Thanks for the tip! We’ll have to give that a go when Clara’s bigger (and finds herself at the beach or the pool)!
xo,
s
Anna Seek says
I have two things to say .. first, my glad my diapering days are behind me! and I wish these were around when my kids were of diapering age (my youngest is headed to college in a couple weeks. Whoa! next weekend! How did that happen?!).
I just love your blog (okay, that’s three things)
Beth says
I’m so glad you posted this! You answered all the questions I had been dying to ask. We have been cloth diapering our 8-month old son since he was about 8 weeks old. Like you, I thought we would be “sacrifcing” by cloth diapering and it would be difficult to do. It’s SOOOO much simpler than I imagined. I’ve actually come to hate using disposables, which we’ve had to do a lot lately because of a long vacation we took.
We actually bought both bum genius and fuzzi bunz one sizes to see which we liked better — and we LOVE our Fuzzi Bunz. They come with two different sized inserts, and now that he’s grown out of the small ones, we found a bonus use for them. They are FABULOUS for cleaning around the house. I use them to dust, clean glass, wipe down stainless steel and bathroom fixtures — pretty much everything.
And speaking of steel, I thought we were the only other parents who thought our baby looked like Zoolander. When he was younger he used to make that exact same “blue steel” look! Too funny!
Beth says
Oh — and wanted to make a comment about bringing baby to the pool in cloth diapers. We heard a tip that you can use Fuzzi Bunz in the water without the liners. We tried it and it worked! We had been using Huggies Little Swimmers previously, and the cloth was actually easier to deal with in the water. Hope that helps!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the tip Beth! We’ll have to give that a go when Clara’s bigger (and finds herself at the beach or the pool)!
xo,
s
Lauren says
Hi!
My baby girl, Naomi, is only 4 weeks younger that Clara! I received a lot of disposables at my baby shower but all along have known that I want to switch to CD. My goal is to switch before I ever have to purchase a pack of disposables. Some friends gave me a couple fuzzibunz and Ivhave been doing lots of CD research. I was wondering…did you have a hard time deciding on the BG Elemental? I’ve been hesitant to buy a set of one brand, are you glad that you bought a pack of 12 instead of single diapers of various brands? The cloth diapering world can be really overwhelming but I want to dive in :) Thanks for taking the time to read and respond! I’m impressed by your commitment to your readers
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lauren,
We just did a lot of research and talked to lots of friends and family members who went the cloth diaper route and the same brand and type kept coming up (some family friends have even used theirs for multiple children, so we’re confident they’ll really last). It seemed like a no brainer to us, especially since we agree that it can feel complicated at first. It was nice and simple to get a bulk amount of the same diapers so they all have the same usage and cleaning instructions, but that’s really your call (if you want to try a few different diapers out that’s fine too!).
xo,
s
Jenn says
Thanks for posting all of this! Cloth diapers have come such a long way and most folks just have no idea! I used cloth on both my boys and loved it. Oh, and I’m a sprayer girl too.
Oh and you’ll love when you switch to cloth wipes. No separating and you’ll just wash ’em right along with the diapers. One less thing to buy! I made mine out of flannel. So easy.
Joyce says
I use disposables on my little girl (exactly 2 months older than Clara) but I really enjoyed reading this post and all the comments. You guys write such good posts and I love coming here to read everyday….even though we don’t even have a house yet! :)
(But, if all goes well, we close on 9/3.)
Like you, I also have a chihuahua. Question for you – does Burger shed? Mine is long-coat so he does. The dog hair is driving me crazy with a baby around. If Burger sheds, how do you deal with all that hair?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Joyce,
Oddly enough we don’t really have issues with Burger’s hair. We hardly see it anywhere. We think it might be because he’s the same color as both of our couches and all of our chairs so it blends in so well. He’s also pretty bald for a chi (no belly hair at all and very thin short hair on the rest of his body). We’ve heard that any vacuum with an upholstery attachment should help so that would be our advice. Oh and getting furniture to match your pooch helps too! Haha.
xo,
s
stephanie says
I didn’t read all 3 billion comments prior to mine, so forgive me if this is redundant regarding detergent :-) I use pre-fold dipes in a cover and originally was using a Free and Clear detergent. After several months I started noticing my diapers were retaining some odor. I switched to Country Save (no additives, no yucky stuff) powder detergent that I saw recommended on many cloth diapering sites. It’s awesome!!! A little goes a LONG way, so a box lasts forever and I even wash all our clothes in it. Hope that helps in the long run :-)
Another cloth diapering-hang-in-the-sun- loving mom.
Nicole says
From what I gather in your post, you’re still using disposable wipes? If so, do yourself a favor and switch to cloth ones! I spent $30 on cloth wipes 4 years ago and they are still going strong today. We just wet them at the sink before using and wash them with our diapers.
Chelsey says
When I saw your diaper cans I thought of my compost canister that I keep on my counter top. It has a vented lid with a charcoal filter and it does not stink at all. I wonder if you could rig something like that up with your cans?
Bryanna S says
I am OBSESSED with cloth diapers. I could go on and on and I LOVE looking for cute new ones to add to the stash (when I can afford a new one! haha)
I definitely agree that you’ll want to start getting more air to the dirty diapers, especially once she starts solids but also once she starts sleeping longer stretches at night as the diapers get older. They are almost guaranteed to get a build up at some point which will make them really smell with that first morning diaper… oh lawsy the ammonia smell! especially with your detergent which has softeners, that can really create a buildup. You should also be warned that it has enzymes which can eat away at your elastic.
I adore the big fluffy butt though… nothing beats the cute fluffy butt! and we always just used the diapers instead of bloomers too! I’ve graduated from AIO pockets to all sorts of fun diapers (covers and fitteds rock! especially wool covers!) so I can really get into matching clothes with diapers. I actually have a shirt that is MADE to MATCH a diaper :D how fun is that?! Of course, I’m also a huge fan of the nice old school prefolds and flats… so simple and WAY cheap… and totally perfect under wool.
mothering.com has a community that is AWESOME with tons of super knowledgeable people on cloth. They love having their brains probed for info :D
YoungHouseLove says
Hey everyone,
Thanks to all the suggestions, we’ll definitely be switching detergents (stay tuned for an update right in this post) and tackling cloth wipes sometime soon! We’ll also be adapting our storage tins as time goes on and Clara gets to solid foods if there’s ever an issue with odor (we’re debating between a wet bag system, something aerated and tin, etc). Stay tuned…
xo,
s
julie says
When we started on cloth diapers I resisted the cloth wipes because it just seemed to cross some line in my ick-tolerance. However, we didn’t have the 2-pail trash/wash system going so after each change we’d have most of the stuff going into the wash pail and then a little baggie of really stinky gross wipes. I finally sucked it up and we switched to cloth wipes and it was totally worth it. For us, I reclaimed about 20 of my daughter’s worst looking baby wash cloths and bought some newer ones that were clearly distinct in style to use for washcloths. But if you don’t have spares you could just go buy 2-3 10 packs of thin washcloths from the baby section for about $5/pack.
We use the peri-bottle that came home from the hospital after delivery. It holds a nice amount of liquid–easily enough for a few days–and squirts beautifully and is a nice shape to grab quickly. I have a basket on the changing table that holds all the cloths and the bottle which is filled with about 1 drop of baby bath and then just straight tap water and gently shaken to mix. When it comes time for a change we grab 1-4 wipes depending on the severity and squirt to dampen. We do the clean up and if it was just a wet dipe the dipe and 1 cloth go into the laundry bin together. If it’s a dirty the 2-4 dirty cloths get tossed into the diaper and while I’m spraying out the diaper we just give each wipe a shot of sprayer-action, too. They all get tossed into the wash together (diapers and wipes) and it adds about 1 minutes to the whole laundry process to sort those into a pile and, if I’m feeling domestic, to fold them into 1/4’s. If I’m not, just chuck them into the basket again in a heap.
lauren says
Hey, it’s me, desk twin. http://utopiainvitations.com/home/2010/07/office-redesign-diy-desk/
Thanks for this post! My husband and I don’t have kids yet but I have a running list of articles and baby ideas so when that day comes I’ll know what I want to do/try. Very helpful!
Alyssa says
I am amazed that those 11 diapers wash and dry before Clara needs a diaper change. We use BG organics and would NEVER be able to wash all but one at the same time. But we have very hard water so washing them seems to be more of an ordeal than your wash routine. Either way, we LOVE them too (and we’ve tried MANY different cloth diapers).
julie says
Also, to previous poster LauraC–we use g-diapers with cloth inserts and it works great for us. I have a post on my blog about using them if you’re interested (click through and search for “diapers”)
Shifra says
Wow, after 2 kids in disposable diapers I NEVER thought I’d go the cloth route, but you almost make me think that next time I might. My family’s gonna think I’m crazy!
Sara Collins says
Have always loved your blog…and was SO excited to see your post about CDing, as I am a recent convert as well :) We use BG Organics (or what they now call Elemental) here too. I tried a variety of different dipes…but always ended up reaching for my BGs over all the others. Love ’em!
For dirty dipes, we use a hanging wet bag from Planetwise (super cute modern prints!), and I’ve also heard the ones from Leslie’s Boutique are great. We didn’t have room for a pail, so this is a great option. We have one in the nursery by the changing table and one in the bathroom where we spray the poopie dipes.
For detergent, we use Rockin Green. It is a great eco-friendly, no-residue detergent for cleaning dipes! And the best thing to get out the stains…the sun! Nothing cuter then a row of colorful dipes hanging on the washing line!
Glad to hear you are enjoying CDing and Clara is liking her new fluffy bum!
(If you haven’t checked them out already…diaperswappers.com and diaperpin.com are great sources of CD info!)
Jen says
Just commenting on the daycare issue … we used a center and there is no way they would have agreed to cloth diapers. No way. I think that is the issue for most of us – I did some research and really wanted to use cloth, but it didn’t make any sense to invest that much money when we had to buy disposables too. Thankfully – we are now done with diapers, and I am very happy to be saving so much money now!
Elise says
Thanks so much for the info! With little bean #3 on the way, I’ve been looking into cloth diapers. You’ve given me a lot of good information to start from!
heatherk says
Just . . . Thank you. I tell people I plan to cloth diaper (expecting in Nov.) and they tell me I’ll probably change my mind and that I shouldn’t plan on it. Of course, they tell me the same thing about breastfeeding too because I work. Just sent an email to my prospective daycare provider asking her if she would mind “just trying it” for a few weeks– perhaps other people can talk their daycare into it too.
Anna says
Thanks for the post on diapering! I have two boys, age 2 and 1, and I tried the diapers with the liner and velcro. We switched back to the seventh generation diapers because the velcro on the diapers was wearing out and the liners were staining. We also found that we had more blowouts with them. I wish I had known about the bum genius, and I’m considering it for my youngest, who has a year or so before potty training.
I find that the gallon/freezer ziplock bags work wonders for having children. You only have to buy one box of them and just reuse them. I like that they have a secure closure so that when I’m putting dirty clothes (or diapers) into them, I don’t have to worry about a mess in my diaper bag. They are helpful at separating clean vs. dirty, housing snacks, or just keeping things organized!