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.
Holly says
I don’t know if i missed the post where you might have mentioned this but where did you get those baby sheets!?! That purple pattern is gorgeous.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Holly,
Just check out today’s post for all that info (that purple textile is a swatch of fabric for our weekly photo project from a fabric store): https://www.younghouselove.com/2010/08/where-do-baby-photos-come-from/
xo,
s
Jen D. says
I love my Organic OS BG diapers. Unfortunately, I didn’t start out with them, so I have a mix match of cloth diapers, but the two I have are my go to diaper. I definitely prefer snaps over hook and loop closure. Thanks for your inspiring blog and I love the cloth diaper post.
Dariela says
You are not alone in loving cloth diapering. I have a 3 y/o that used disposables and now a 6 months old that is using cloth and I’m thinking, why didn’t I do this before???? Bum Genius are perfect too. I’m definitely into wanting to have at least 20! For more flexibility!
Tricia says
I LOVE your explanation on the cloth diapers! We are expected our 2nd little boy in December and I am seriously considering going this route….just trying to convince the hubby :)
On another note, can I ask where you got the fabric/pillow in the initial picture above? The one with the blue/brown flowers? I am in the process of planning the new baby room and this would be perfect!
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Check out today’s afternoon post for that info: https://www.younghouselove.com/2010/08/put-a-cork-in-it-2/
Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Cindy Bennett says
Hey guys-
Glad things are working well with the Bum Genius! We now have the detergent, and if anyone is looking for them in Richmond, we even have some of the 4.0’s in stock now!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the info, Cindy. So good to know Richmonders like us can score that stuff locally!
-John
whozat says
We love our BGs, too!
We use cloth wipes – just baby washcloths with regular old water. I keep the water on the changing table in my peribottle from the hospital (a prettier squirt bottle would work too) and use it to wet the wipes as we need them.
We have a kitchen-sized trashcan with a lid for dirty diapers, and line it with a Wahmies washable waterproof bag.
We have two bags, and when it’s time to wash, we just carry the whole bag to the washing machine, dump it out, then toss in the bag. Stick the other bag in the can, and you’re good to go!
Cait says
So glad to read about your cloth diapering experience. I am expecting twin girls in a few weeks (or less) and I’m planning on using BG 3.0’s as well. I had been waiting to find out when Clara was big enough to start wearing them. I had read that you couldn’t use the Seventh Generation detergent with them because of whiteners and brighteners (or something?), so I’m interested to see if this works well for you without causing build up or reduced absorbancy. This is what we use now for our clothes so it would be nice not to have to change.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Cait,
We do plan to switch detergents thanks to lots of comments to that effect! We want our dipes to last for the long haul. We’ll post here about the change (with an updated call out in the post) when we make the switch. Stay tuned! And good luck with your adorable twin girls on the way!
xo,
s
jess says
Dang. I have been shutting my eyes and ears to all you cloth-diapering fanatics out there, but my defenses have gradually been wearing down…and your post was the last straw. I honestly hate the thought of dealing with poo after the fact instead of wrapping it up neatly and tossing it, never to see (or smell) it again. However, you make it sound relatively easy, and the cost-effectiveness can’t be argued…especially for someone who plans on having lots of kiddos (like me)! Thanks for sharing, and feel free to take pride and pleasure in the fact that you just officially won over a very stubborn woman.
-Jess (mother of 16-month-old Silas, expecting another in February)
Grace says
We just got our cloth diapers, and we’re loving them!! I was just curious what kind of wet bag you use (or what you do use if you don’t use one) while you’re out & about and Clara has a dirty cloth diaper.
YoungHouseLove says
A wet bag is still on our to-get list. Right now we just “recycle” old Target bags or any other errant plastic bags that we have around. There are lots of wet bag recommendation in the comment section here though!
xo,
s
Grace says
Thanks, Sherry!!
Jaime says
After having used disposables for the first 2 weeks, I can honestly laundry bag of cloth diapers don’t really smell at all (unless you put your nose right up to it), while we couldn’t seem to get rid of the disposable dirty diaper smell in our house.
I love our cloth diapers! We have a couple of each of BumGenius, Fuzzibuns, Kissiluvs, gro-baby and plain old prefolds. It’s the best decision we made, we’re saving money and I don’t worry about sending tons of dirty diapers into the landfill wrapped in 3 layers of plastic. Plus, they’re just so darn cute!
Kath says
Such great information!! I hope to cloth it up someday :)
carly says
I just recently tried the doopsy diaper because of there price and i love them! they are having some great deals right now also.
“NEW Version Doopsy OS Pocket Diapers available at http://www.BabyEcoMart.com, OLD version starting at $11.97″
tara says
Quick question that I’ve been wondering about. What did you do in the hospital? I know many people who use the 7th gen diapers and then switch to cloth and that’s what I plan on doing, but in the hospital did you let them just put the pampers on Clara for the first few days or did you bring 7th gen diapers with you? Just wondering because one of my main concerns is healthy skin for the baby and the few days post birth seem pretty critical, but I wasn’t sure what other people do. Thankd for the info! Love your blog!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Tara,
We brought a bunch of Seventh Generation diapers with us to the hospital and gave the nurses a heads up while Sherry was in labor so that they could be sure our diapers were used on Clara from the first moment. We also left them with a note asking them not to use any wash or lotion on Clara that wasn’t provided by us. We just wrote it out in a cute deprecating note that they kept with her little baby tray pusher thingie that said something to this effect: “I’m a green baby! Please humor my neurotic but loving parents by using the diapers, bath wash, and lotion they’ve provided.” They didn’t seem to mind at all, in fact many of them remarked that it was cute. Hope that helps!
-John
Tara says
Awesome thanks so much for the great info! But now I have another question. Sorry to bug you! What lotion and wash have you liked best for Clara? I’ve tried some on myself but haven’t found anything I’m in love with yet. Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We love the California Baby line from Target (it’s very mild and natural). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Angela says
So would you not recommend Johnson & Johnson? Why or why not? I’m just starting to learn about all of this. Loved the blog – extremely helpful!
YoungHouseLove says
We just prefer products with more naturally derrived ingredients and fewer potential allergens but it’s really a personal decision! Researching ingredients on http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com can help. Good luck!
xo,
s
Angela says
Thanks so much. That link is very helpful. Would you mind expanding on cloth diaper stains? I was helping my friend who uses cloth diapers fold her laundry and couldn’t help but noticed how stained all the diapers and cloth wipes were. Big turn off to me! But you mentioned drying them in the sun. Was that to get rid of poop stains? Also, we live in an apartment with a shared deck. We are also due in December (and live in South Dakota). Any ideas on getting them some sun or other ways to safely get rid of stains?
YoungHouseLove says
Yup, sunlight bleaches the occasional stain like magic. We’re not sure if you have a sunny ledge inside or can even hang a window box or a clothesline but those are a few other ideas to get sunlight on cloth diapers (aside from using the shared deck space). Our diapers still look mint thanks to the sun bleaching tip (and the use of our diaper sprayer). Good luck!
xo,
s
Alexis says
Hi John and Sherry,
You have inspired me to make the switch, so I purchased 12 bum genius organic diapers! I have few questions for you. Did you pre-wash the diapers 5x like the pamphlet recommends? Do you plan on drying them solely in the dryer once the weather cools down (Ours have been hanging in our sun room for 12+ hours and still not dry). Do you think that solely drying them would compromise them? What detergent do you plan to switch to? And on an unrelated topic, HOW did you get Clara to sleep 9+ hours through the night? Sleep deprived and a bit envious :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Alexis,
We just have a sleepy baby on our hands! We definitely can’t take any of the credit for that. As for your diaper q’s, we did pre wash them (we direction-followers in general) and we switched to Charlie’s Soap after we got a ton of recommendations and have loved it so far. We plan to lay them out in the sunroom to get some sunlight in the winter months (so perhaps a sunny window sill or even a dresser, bed, or table that gets some sun through the window could work) although we’ll dry them part of the way in the dryer if necessary. We definitely don’t think drying them in the dryer will compromise them although sunlight is the best way we’ve found to get those occasional discolorations out. But remember, those are just aesthetic, so the diapers should perform just as well and last just as long either way. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
ZAK says
Hi Guys,
We’re 6 weeks from our first child and have enjoyed your blog very much.
I was wondering if you use a disinfectant along with your charlie’s soap?
I read on the charlie’s site that they recommend it?
Thanks for all the great info!
Best,
Z&J
YoungHouseLove says
Nope, we chatted up about a million ladies who cloth diaper on a few online diapering boards in the name of research… and they all sang Charlie’s Soap’s praises (and didn’t add anything else since some additives can mess with the diapers’ absorbency). We have definitely witnessed firsthand that the process of laundering the diapers keeps them nice and clean so we don’t worry about infections that can pass through the wash at all! Hope it helps.
xo,
s
PattyTerzian says
Great post, cloth diapering has a been a great thing for our family. We’ve used cloths for all 3 of our kids. I’ve been surprised at how easy it really is!
YoungHouseLove says
We promised everyone a laundry soap update when we switched so here it is:
After tons of knowledgeable cloth diapering mommas and poppas recommended it, we switched over to Charlie’s Soap Laundry Powder (from Seventh Generation Free & Clear), and it’s now all that we use for our dipes. Love it! And it lasts forever since you only use a tablespoon per load.
xo,
s
Erika M says
Seeing as how you seem so thorough in your research….I thought I would ask you guys….thinking of giving these a go. I would love to hear (read) your pros/cons versus the bumGenius which are my 2nd choice! Thanks in advance.
bottombumpers
http://www.vermontcountrybaby.com/i_116/Bottombumpers-ONE-SIZE-Side-Snapping-AIO.htm
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Erika,
We just got a lot of suggestions from friends and family members and BumGenius came up the most (we heard they lasted the longest and could be used for multiple kiddos while other brands didn’t last) so it’s what we went with. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Rebecca says
Hi guys,
I have the same diapers as you! My question is are they compatible with the Skip Hop changing pod? The BumGenius dipes seem quite thick. If you still use your pod, do you mind sharing how you fit everything in?
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Rebecca,
We use our SkipHop on the go, so we stuff that with a few Seventh Generation disposable diapers (and we put the cloth diaper that we take off of her into a plastic bag that we keep in the glove compartment of the car (which we also use for Burger when he’s on the go). Of course we have to remember to bring the diaper in and spray it when we get home, but it seems to work for us. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Erika M says
Hey guys..thanks for your quick response…soo here’s my concern with bumGenius and the Bottombumpers…the warranty on the BB is only good for 90 days and the BG states that the warranty is void if you do any of the following: blah blah and then use detergents with additives, enzymes, etc., or natural soap.(from their website)….I make my own detergent, but am also concerned b/c they were plugging to only use the bumGenius detergent. I have settled on possibly the FuzziBunz Onesize with insert b/c they have a full one year warranty and not as stringent on soap use, snaps etc. any cons your readers or you’ve heard of on these? Thanks…last question about this I promise.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Erika,
We definitely heard from people who had enjoyed FuzziBunz but many of them said they used a number of diapers (including a few BumGenius ones) and the BumGenius ones were always their favorite of the entire rotation for the fit and because they stay nice and dry and for how they wash so well, etc. They’re a bit more expensive than FuzziBunz but the consensus seems to be that they’re high quality and most people prefer them to the cheaper ones (and regardless of the warranty they last forever according to many- we’ve used ours for over 90 days with no reason to worry about the warranty). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
mary elizabeth says
LOVE the BG aio elementals. I have over 60! I also have 4 sons age 5 to 9mos. Yep I had three in cloth diapers at once. In fact I switched to cloth while I was diapering 3 boys. Why in the world would a crazy person do that. ONE SIZE. ONE SIZE. 1 size!!!! every diaper fits every boy in the house. Love them. Can’t say enough. BTW, I love your blog too.
yes they stain easily. put them in the sun and don’t stress.
Jamie says
We use bumGenius dipes on our little Norah as well – we have about 15 in rotation. Question for you guys: where do you keep Clara’s clean diapers? I find that they take up an entire drawer of her three-drawer dresser – a drawer I could really use for clothes/blankies/etc. So now we’re just keeping them in the laundry basket next to her dresser (obv. not the best-looking solution). Any ideas?
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We have a six drawer dresser so we devoted one whole drawer to the dozen that we have along with a few other diapering things (wipes, cream, etc). So sorry that doesn’t really help though- unless you can hunt down a six drawer dresser like we did on Craigslist! We love all that space!
xo,
s
Newness says
I am also a mom who smiles and grins as I put a fresh cloth diaper on my baby girl! :) I agree that using cloth is no more difficult than disposables. I have yet to hook up my diaper sprayer. And yet I was totally stoked to buy it. lol. I plan to do that soon. Sooo much to do, so little time.
Lexie says
Thanks for this post; very informative. I’m considering switching to cloth diapers for my 2 month old son and the BumGenius seem like a great option- but I’m confused as to whether they require a separate insert or not. I can’t seem to find that info in the diaper’s description on any of the websites I’m considering purchasing. If an insert is optional, do you suggest using one with these? Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Certain BumGenius models call for a separate insert while the “all-in-ones” which we got don’t (since they’re all in one!). We just use the exact diapers that we call out by name in this post (follow the link for more info). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Lexie says
Thank you for your response. Okay, duh- hence the “all-in-one”. lol- got it now. Thanks again!
YoungHouseLove says
No worries! Cloth diapers can be complicated at first!
xo,
s
liz says
Similar smiles from this professional nanny who uses cloth diapers on her tiny clients (one 4 months, one 22 months, not brothers!). The 4 month old is my best friend’s kid, and being the green girl that I am, I asked if I could purchase and use cloth for him while he’s with me (5 days a week while his parents work). They gave me the okay, and I never looked back! I ended up buying gently used diapers online, which is even more conscientious!
Though I’m not using BumGenius, I have heard good things about ’em. I am going to get some AIOs for his parents for Christmas , to get them in the swing of things. I’ll just toss them in with my diaper wash until they feel comfy with it and ready to switch detergents.
ALSO loving Charlie’s Soap! I use it for everything, though. It rinses clean and it’s so cool to smell real clean clothes instead of fake fragrances.
Holli says
I loved the idea of only buying one stroller opposed to multiple! I saw in your post that you went with the Joovy Kooper, when I looked on the site it said good for babies 6 months to 45 lbs, were you able to use with Clara prior to her being 6 months or did you use something else?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Holli,
We adapted the stroller with an infant Snuzzler insert (at the suggestion of many friends who have the same stroller). Clara has happily been enjoying the stroller since about ten days old thanks to that simple addition!
xo,
s
Jennifer W says
hey guys…I LOVE your blog! It was my go-to blog when my hubby and I were doing some remodeling on our house (not by choice, renters gone awry – oy!). But in the end, we were suprised at what we could do ourselves so all was not lost.
I love reading about your experience with cloth diapers – I have a 4 1/2 year old daughter and went the disposable route (since momma was working full-time and going back to college full-time), but now that we’re working on Bambino #2 (or #2 and #3 – shout out IVF!) I am so excited to go the green route next time around and use cloth. I recently purged my house and re-stocked with all-natural and paraben free products. I had no idea that 7th Gen made a diaper – I love the rest of their stuff! And California Baby rocks too – yes, I do spend $16 on their bubble bath for my daugter (but now that I know the potential dangers of parabens, it’s a no-brainer).
Kudos to you guys for bringing all of this information to your readers! It not only saves people money, but sheds a little light on how little you truly need to raise a healthy and happy child. Not to mention some people may not realize how easy ‘going green’ can be!
Laura says
I loved reading this post! It made me want to give cloth diapering a try again when my second baby comes along! I received a 12-pack of Bum Genius Dipes from my mother-in-law for my shower. I had told her I wanted to cloth diaper and she was so impressed that I wanted to go that route that she ordered me up some! I also got gender neutral colors…and that goes not only for cloth diapers but everything I got for my son so that I could use it for future kids if I had a girl (fingers crossed). ANYWAY…..I wish I would have gotten the all in ones! Mine have the inserts and it is sort of a pain! Pulling out that wet pee-filled (EW!) insert is not the funnest job! I cloth diapered my son for a few months but never got any help or support from the hubby and eventually I gave up. Which still makes me mad! So, my goal with baby #2 is to give it a try again! I am definitely gonna get that sprayer too!
Also, thank you for being so non-judgmental to all the different choices moms (parents) have to make. I also tried breast feeding and wanted that too work SO bad and it didn’t. It’s very annoying when people judge you for not breast feeding, cloth diapering, ect. when you tried and tried and it just didn’t work! So, thank you! and…I am sorry I babbled out a whole novel for you to read!
Sarah says
We cloth diaper too and use Rockin’ Green detergent, have heard that it is up there with Charlie’s, in case you are looking for others to try. Also, we use the BumGenius pocket diapers with the liners. We like being able to switch out liners when they are simply wet, and re-use the shell 1 or 2 more times before washing. That may make the 12-diaper total even more do-able. One thing we haven’t transitioned to though is using the cloth diaper overnight – do you use an extra layer, or a different type of cloth diaper, for Clara’s long sleeps? Like Clara, our 6-month-old daughter gives us 8+ hour stretches at night, which we do not want to interrupt with a diaper change! What has been your experience?
YoungHouseLove says
Clara sleeps in her regular all in ones every night! They do a great job of absorbing moisture, and since she only wets herself overnight (no baby poo), even our doc said to wake her up to change a wet diaper is silly. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jodie says
Why a warm (vs hot) wash? Also, are there any baby ‘living’ type blogs you follow that you would recommend?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jodie,
Based on the instructions (and advice from other moms) a warm wash is what we do and it seems to work really well. As for living type blogs, we love this one: http://www.flythroughourwindow.com/
xo,
s
Betsy says
You both are so inspirational! It is nice to see others on the same “green” wave length from the get go. Wishing I was as clever as you to write a note at the hospital when my daughter was born. Both my 2 year old and 5 month old are in cloth. Rock on!
Kari says
I’m 26 weeks pregnant and have been researching cloth diapers. Since I will be going back to work, I was pretty set on the ones you picked. It seemed like they would be easiest for daycare/anyone changing the baby other than us. But I heard two things about them that concerned me. First, that they take FOREVER to dry and second, that they don’t pull the wetness away from the baby as well as the others. It sounds like you don’t have any complaints in either of those areas, though?
(Some people also mentioned that snaps are harder for daycare providers than velcro, which is something we are also considering. But the drying and leaving the baby wet are of concern to me.)
YoungHouseLove says
Nope, no issues with those at all. Ours dry quickly in our dryer or even in the sun and we have no diaper rash ever from them (which wasn’t true when we used to use disposables) since they’re super absorbent. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Gin says
We are due in February and will also be using the BG AIO 4.0s… Charlie’s soap website says that you should ONLY use their soap in washing machines because if not then it starts to get gunky with the combined detergent and the Charlie’s. Do you guys wash all of your clothes in Charlie’s as recommended or do you still use 2 different detergents? We’re really hesitant to wash all with the Charlie’s. We like the yummy smell of our regular detergent. Thanks :)
YoungHouseLove says
We’re rule followers. We only use Charlie’s Soap and love it.
xo,
s
Jenn says
I hope you will update us on your cloth diaper usage! i am starting my cloth diaper research and would love to know if you still really like the ones you choose?
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, we love them. That’s the update! Still loving them and totally convinced we picked the right diapers. We couldn’t be happier!
xo,
s
Carolyn says
So…I just read through pretty much all of the 400+ comments on this post throughout the course of today, and I have to say I am feeling EXCITED to try cloth nappies/diapers! We did start out using cloth (we were given a bunch of towelling squares that required folding and securing in place) I guess we just got used to the convenience of using disposables. This time around I’m going to try the fitted nappies (no origami style folding thank you!) and try using washable cloths for wipes, and the wet bag to contain it all before tossing it all in the wash.
Thanks to you and all the other readers for the confidence to give it another go and save a ton of money!!!
P.S I recently commented on your baby clothing post, saying that we kept a maximum of 5 tops, leggings etc. for our little one. Well I went back and counted her clothes, and I would say the number is closer to 10 of each. I thought the original number sounded a bit meagre..still washing every day though!
julia says
hi!
so, when our now 2 year old son was born we were living in a small apartment (which was awesome and forced us to be minimalist with the all of the baby stuff). But we didn’t do cloth diapers because we were paying for our laundry per load.
But bought a house last year and now #2 is on the way so we’re ready to go with cloth diapers. One question I have is – do you have any cloth diapering friends who’s little folks are also in daycare?
We’ve been thinking we’ll do cloth diapers 100% at home and disposables for the day care (she’ll only be there 3 days/week).
I’s also like to switch our son to using cloth diapers at home (we use Earth’s Best disposable diapers and wipes right now) – I’m secretly hoping it’ll help him potty train since he’ll actually be able to feel when he’s wet.
…side note – Now I don’t feel alone in my excitement about the toilet sprayer for the semi-solid matter…
Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
We heard from lots of readers who said their daycare was happy to use cloth dipes! Just scroll back through these comments for more info!
xo,
s
Jennifer Oswald says
You both are like kindred spirits to me. We are 17 weeks with child and are rapidly absorbing info in anticipation of our little one. We’ve decided to go with gDiapers as they come in newborn sizes & are less bulky than the BG. Wanted to put out there (for readers like Julia) that the gDiapers have a shell like BG, but have both eco-friendly disposable inserts and cloth inserts. This is a great capability for dealing with the cloth-at-home & disposable-at-day care issue (& it’s green friendly!). (:
natalie says
I just discovered your blog on ohdeedoh the other day and I have not been able to stop reading it!! Love it – feeling so inspired by your great ideas & beautiful home.
I’m 38 wks pregnant w/ my first baby and have been wanting to cloth diaper. I got some G diapers at my shower but am a little hesitant about the expense of all the liners. I just ordered a bum genius after reading this post so i can try them out but I have a few questions.
1) forgive me if this is a stupid question, but you mentioned that you are “already doing laundry every day anyway” so the add’l dipes are no biggie…..does that mean you mix together your dirty dipes into your other laundry or do you do a seperate load just for diapers?
2) can you use disposable or flushable liners like “Kushies” with these diapers instead of using the diaper washer for the poos?
Thanks so much for all the amazing info you’ve given on this topic -it has really given me the boost I needed to commit to cloth diapering : )
YoungHouseLove says
We actually don’t mix clothes and dipes since we wash all 12 of our diapers (or 11 if Clara’s in one of them) in one load by themselves. It seems to be a good number for their own load, and they dry faster that way since there aren’t a million things in there that need to be spun dry for a while. Of course we love leaving them out in the sun to dry when we can. You can definitely use flushable liners like Kushies with BumGenius (lots of cloth diapers mommas love those and we plan on trying them when Clara’s onto solid foods (her poo is so un-firm now that we don’t mind spraying and tossing them in the wash). Hope it helps! And good luck with your little one on the way!
xo,
s
Karen says
Thanks so much for this post – I enjoyed reading about your experience with cloth diapers. You and I seem to have very similar tastes and values when it comes to green living and baby care and have made many of the same decisions in terms of products. We even picked the same name as you – our Clara will be 1 month old this week! That said, I wanted to strongly recommend trying out cloth wipes if you haven’t yet. Since you’re already cloth diapering, then you won’t even notice the extra laundry. For the price of a few dozen washcloths and a cloth wipes warmer case, we’re now set for all of Clara’s wipes (we do keep a pack of Seventh Gen wipes in our diaper bag, though). We like the Prince Lionheart warmer, although their warmies wipes tend to shred – basic washcloths have held up much better. Just wanted to share our experience and encourage others doing cloth diapering to give cloth wipes a try!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks for the suggestions! We definitely plan to give cloth wipes a try!
xo,
s
Sigrid Chapman says
Oooh, so jealous of the new bum genius dipes with SNAPS! We have been using bum genius 3.0 (with velcro) for the last two years and the velcro is pretty shredded. When our 3 month old starts getting a little more mobile, they’ll probably just start to fall off! Oh well… All in all, we loved them though.
We use Kussaluv cloth wipes with a DIY solution of a little baby oil, baby shampoo, and a couple drops of tea tree oil (bacteria/mold resistant) and warm water sprinkled over them. When folded, they fit neatly in a regular wipes container. They ARE AWESOME!
And I like to spray my dipes, too. :)
Tracey says
Hi! Love this post and am thinking of giving these diapers a try. I have a few questions-how long do they typically take to dry in your dryer and on the line? And kind of a gross one but when you spray the diapers does the spray ever bounce off of the diaper and back onto you or the bathroom? That little sprayer looks pretty powerful :)
Thanks! Tracey
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Tracey,
You can adjust the sprayer so it has the right amount of pressure so there’s no issue with out of control spraying that bounces around the room. It takes about 45 minutes to dry the diapers in our dryer and a few hours to line dry them. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Melissa says
Thank you so much for this detailed post – i too have a sick fascination with cloth diapering and i’m not even a mom yet :)
One question as I’m trying to picture logistics … so you have little Clara-boo-boo on the changing table, you remove used diaper, you – go to the bathroom & spray? set diaper aside until you’re done changing? does she get into it while she’s up there?
i guess what i’m asking is, when & how exactly does the spraying fit in?
thanks again!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Melissa,
Ok, so Clara’s up on the changing pad and we remove the dirty cloth diaper. Then we set it aside out of reach on the other side of her dresser (folded so nothing is leaking or anything) and put on the clean diaper. Then we lift her off of the changing table and put her in her crib so she’s 100% safe (we would never leave her on her changing table unattended). Then once she’s in her crib cooing to herself we take the dirty diaper that we had set aside into the bathroom and spray it. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Melissa says
Thanks a bunch!!
Shelly says
I have all sort of dipes and use different ones depending on my mood. I have 6 of the ones you do and I love them, the Flip work pretty well but my frontloader tends to let the microfiber in them get smelly over time. Not a microfiber fan. My son developed an allergy to disposable wipes so we use cloth in those too. We went the cheapie route with those, a pack of 16 washcloths from Walmart for $4. I use warm water on the washcloth for most cleanups and California Baby Calming Spray for the really pasty poo.
harmony says
Question about diaper sizes–if you had ordered the newborn size to make it through until the all-in-ones fit, how many do you think you would have needed? I think we’re going to go with the bumgenius elementals too, but I don’t want to have to buy a whole other set of newborn size :-( Thanks for your thoughts!
YoungHouseLove says
Definitely 12 or even 16 or 18. Clara had a lot more diaper-damage when she was a newborn. Now our collection of 12 is great, but back then more would have come in handy!
xo,
s