Cloth Diapers

As odd as it may sound, I have a huge passion for cloth diapering, and it has definitely spilled over into other aspects of my life, trying to be more green and eco friendly. I knew as I was pregnant that I wanted to cloth diaper our baby. A lot of people have to convince their husbands, but Jay was right on board with me. My sister-in-law Laura started cloth diapering her son when he was around 6 months old and gave me lots of great advice. She gave me her recommendations and I started purchasing my fluff (another term for cloth diapers) and also receiving it as gifts.

I didn't want to overwhelm myself with learning how to be a new mama and learning the ins and outs of cloth diapering with a newborn, so I bought myself some perfect size FuzziBunz starting with size small and figured I would start my journey into cloth diapering when he was big enough to fit into them.

There are SO many options, both relatively cheap and quite expensive, for cloth diapering...but in the long run it saves you a ton of cash, just as long as you don't let your addiction spiral out of control!

Our cloth diapering journey for Braden happily ended in May 2012 when he was 2 years 3 months old! I have been so happy to have a break from diapering until baby #2 comes in November where we will be using cloth from day #1!

My gear:

FuzziBunz Perfect Fit Pocket Diapers

I have about 40 extra smalls, 32 smalls, and 28 mediums.

Rockin Green Cloth Diaper Soap
 

When I started my cloth diapering journey I just used a dye-free soap from the grocery store, and it worked for awhile until the build up started. Then I heard about Rockin' Green and haven't wanted to try anything else since. It comes in 3 different formulas depending on what type of water you have (hard, soft, etc) and come in lovely scents!

bumGenius Diaper Sprayer

Cannot live without a diaper sprayer, once you have one, you'll never go back!

Tots Bots Bamboozle Fitted Diapers

Bamboo is a very absorbent material, perhaps even the most out there which is why I chose these diapers for our overnight solution at first. We rarely have leaks too. I did buy 2 that were used to give them a try and liked them so much I bought the new version that has velcro. As Braden got older and his urine got stronger, fitteds were not a good "fit" (no pun intended!) as he was just soaked in the mornings and his skin was reacting very poorly.


Thirsties Hemp Liners

We have 4 of these and I love them. Hemp is a very absorbent material and the Thirsties ones are very trim. I add them to his FuzziBunz for naps and add one in his overnight diaper.


Londonware Fleece Covers

I used these over my fitteds during the night as these also contain a "zorb" layer in addition to the fleece. They are cute and so soft and comfy!

Winkydinks Wool Covers

Another great solution for an overnight diaper cover is wool! Wool also comes in "shorties" (that look like shorts) and "longies" that are essentially pants.


Thirsties Fab Fitted Diapers

I have a few of these to use and they are super soft and easy to put on. I also like to use them right before bath time if baby needs one last diaper change, I don't know why...but I do!

Thirsties Duo Wrap Covers

You need a cover for fitted diapers so the pee doesn't soak everything! These come in two sizes that fit from birth to potty training. The prints are adorable and I love these! We have 3 of them in snaps but they also come in velcro.

FuzziBunz Organic Cloth Wipes

I got these as a baby shower gift and they are my favorite wipes so far.


Prince Lionheart Wipes Warmer

An absolute must to your cloth diapering collection. Why use disposable wipes? Cloth wipes are very cheap, depending on the brand you buy, or you can make your own very easily. This system comes with an antimicrobial 'sponge' that you change every 2 months.


Bummis Fleece Liners

I bought these and I LOVE them. Instead of buying disposable liners to place directly onto the diaper and throw away in case of poopage, use these and reuse, reuse, reuse! They are uber thin and I've never had any staining issues.

PlanetWise Wet/Dry Bag

Awesome for traveling as it has two separate compartments for clean and dirty diapers, fits all that I need for any length of trip but I have to do laundry every day with this bag.

Rumparooz Pail Liner

I really like this bag, it's absolutely huge and you don't even need a pail for it, if you don't want, it stands on it's own once it starts to fill up

MonkeyDoodlez Swim Diaper

Absolutely love these, they are so awesome and SO worth the money. Only pay $20 or less for a reusable swim diaper!

Charlie Banana Perfect Fit Diapers

These were the newest diapers in my stash, I have two medium pocket diapers. They are very trim fitting and fit smaller than some other pocket diapers.

I am not partial to, nor endorse, any specific brand when it comes to cloth diapering. I look at it as we're all one big happy fluffy family just trying to make the world a better place by not using disposables! I love trying new fluff of all brands!

 My Washing Routine

• I wash every 1.5-2 days
• I empty my diaper pail bag and do a cold rinse & spin to get the yuckies out (I have Kenmore HE front loaders)
• Sometimes if they're extra smelly, or it's an extra poopy/stained load, I do an express wash cycle with warm wash/warm rinse as I've read using warm water works really well, especially for stains
• I have tried Rockin' Green's Funk Rock to battle the stinkies (ammonia build up) which is an option to try. It works, but so does rocking a soak with the soap you use to wash them anyway
• Next step is to add 1 tbsp of Rockin' Green soap, or whatever your soap of choice is
• Then I use my "Heavy Duty" setting hot wash/cold rinse with an extra wash and rinse and this takes just over 2 hours
• I used to use the "Sanitize" setting on my wash cycle until I read that this can be VERY hard on the PUL (water-proof) later of the diapers as it could be too hot...but I do wash my inserts/fitteds on sanitize when I need a really deep clean
• I always dry my inserts and fitteds on the "Sanitize" setting in the dryer
• I always hang dry my shells and covers, unless I need some in a hurry and then I'll throw a few in the dryer on a timed cycle on low heat (it's okay to tumble dry on low)
• If you're fighting stains use nature's natural bleach - the sun!

The Don'ts of Cloth Diapering

• I was once told by the Facebook FuzziBunz team that it's perfectly safe to use OxiClean in your wash cycle, and I'm sure it is, but my advice...don't! It wore off the inside tag labels, which isn't thaaaaaat big of a deal but I found it would create build-up a lot sooner and I don't get bad stains without it anyway
• Don't use non-cloth diaper approved butt cream! It will build up a layer on your diapers and repel pee away, not good! The odd time baby's bum gets red, I just use a fleece liner, slap some butt cream on and it protects my diapers, I find personally the cloth approved creams aren't as good as the non
• Don't invest in a stash full of hook-and-loop closures aka velcro. It does not last as long as snaps. I do have a few for ease of use with babysitters...but buttons/snaps aren't exactly rocket science!
• Don't invest in size large diapers, if you're using perfect fit, you can probably get away with mediums until potty training...unless you have a big, chunky monkey toddler! I have heard good things about FuzziBunz Petite sized diapers. They are a higher rise, good for tall toddlers.
• Don't buy all your diapers brand new, if you're worried about costs. Used diapers have a surprisingly high re-sale and you can buy them cheaper than new and trade/sell if you want to try some different brands or styles (see below)

Retail

I have also bought used diapers from this site, also a great resource:

Blogs:

 

If you have any questions, comments, concerns or by some reason you work in the cloth diapering business and want to contact me to do a review/giveaway please email me!