Cloth diapering sounds like a big undertaking and a lot of work for a generation of parents who love convenience. But I’m here to tell you that it’s not a huge deal and it’s much more doable than you might imagine! When you look up cloth diapers there is a lot of information; types of diapers, fitted vs adjustable, all-in-ones vs inserts, and all sorts of things that people say you “need.” It sounds like a big commitment, both in the work it takes to keep up with cloth and a financial commitment. But the truth is you can get as committed as you want to cloth diapers and there are lots of ways to be frugal when purchasing your items. There is nobody coming around making sure you are doing it correctly, I promise! Maybe you only want to cloth diaper during the day and disposables at night, that’s ok! Maybe you do cloth at home and send disposables to daycare, that’s ok too! There are no rules.

The Newborn Stage

There are cloth diapers specifically made for newborns that you can purchase. Typically, newborns are too small to fit into all-in-ones so they need a more fitted set of diapers for this stage. Personally, I chose not to cloth diaper through the newborn phase. For me, I didn’t want to spend the money on diapers for such a short phase and I wasn’t ready to commit to an extra load of laundry while my body adjusts and recovers after birth. So we did disposables until our girls were about 11-12 lbs or about 2 months old. Again, there is no right or wrong way, just whatever feels best for you.

What do you “need” to get started?

• 12-24 Cloth diapers of your choice
• Diaper pail
• Wet bag (optional)
• Cloth diaper safe diaper rash cream (optional)

These things can be second hand, DIY or brandname, it all does the same thing. I put a dozen diapers, the decor diaper pail, and one wet bag on my baby registry and that was enough for us to start with.

Getting Started

Before using the diapers, wash them 2 or 3 times. This is because they will not be very absorbent at first. They will get more absorbent as you wash them. That’s it. That is all you really need to do before starting to use them.

A quick note about the diaper pail: The diaper pail was something that I knew I wanted to make sure to get right. I didn’t want it to be stinky and I wanted an easy way to get the dirty diapers to the laundry. I did quite a bit of research and found the Decor diaper pail to be the best fit for us. It has worked great! I have the larger one and two reusable liners. It doesn’t ever stink! And when I go to wash I just take the whole liner out, dump the diapers into the washing machine, toss in the liner itself and I’m all set! There are lots of people who make their own diaper pail or use other brands that work great too, again this is just what has worked well for us 🙂

Washing The Diapers

1. Rinsing diapers of solids – if your baby is exclusively breastfed their poop is water soluble and there is no need to rinse the poop off before putting it in the diaper pail. If the baby is formula fed or eats solid food you will need to rinse the poop off someway before putting it in the pail. A diaper sprayer that is attached to the toilet is the easiest way I have found to do this.
2. Rinsing Cycle – After putting the diapers in the washing machine, you will want to first run and rinse cycle. This loosens any left over solids and rinses the urine.
3. Hot Wash Cycle – Soiled diapers can grow bacteria so it is important to wash in the HOTTEST water possible! I also wash on the “heavily soiled” mode so they cycle is nice and long. Add in detergent, oxiclean (optional) and maybe a little vinegar.
4. Drying – You can use a dryer or air dry them. I do a little bit of both depending on what kind of time I have. What works best for me is washing them in the evening and then letting the air dry over night. I believe that sometimes the dryer can wear down on the elastic around the leg holes. If the elastic wears down too much it could cause leaking problems. I’ve never had problems with this, but it is just something to consider when deciding how to clean your diapers. If there are stains, drying the diapers can also set the stain making it more difficult to come out.

There you have it! Once you get going you may want to look into stripping your diapers every so often to make sure there is no bacteria or ammonia build up. But this is a good starting point.