Super Easy Guide-How to Wash Cloth Diaper

WASHING YOUR CLOTH DIAPERS:

It is actually MUCH easier than all these know-it-all mom blogs make it out to be, as demonstrated in my simple 1 minute video guide below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnlU2EKuAVY

I'm sure you have come across a hundred blogs and websites declaring the "proper" way to wash your cloth diapers. There is sooooo much overwhelming information out there that if you get swept up in, could completely discourage you from cloth diapering all together. Well, i'm here to tell you that it's really not as hard as those mom snobs make it out to be!

So, here is my simple routine.

Remember, it's just laundry! You do laundry everyday. It's not rocket science. It's diaper science.

Heres how I wash my clothes diapers:

I use a re-useable diaper laundry bag placed in a trash can.

Toss all my diapers straight into the laundry bag (without taking liners out of the diaper, because I mean who wants to separate poopy/urinated on liners from their diapers)

Then I take the entire bag of dirty diapers and toss it in the washer WITH the laundry bag too!

If you have a small re-usable dirty diaper bag you take with you when you leave the house, then throw that in too.

Now for the wash---

PRE-WASH: To remove the baby butt by-products (poo) before washing everything in that poo-y mess. 

Prewash SUPER sized load, HOT water, HEAVY duty wash with 1/2 c. laundry detergent.

TIDE ORIGINAL POWDER without those weird breezy scents is the way to go. It is still the best and no it does not ruin your diapers or make them irritate your baby's skin (that's what a double rinse is for).

NORMAL-WASH:

After pre-washing your diapers HOT water, HEAVY duty wash, SUPER cycle, with a cup of TIDE original powder detergent. Use the 2ND RINSE option. (That means there is a double rinse that happens to wash away any extra detergent to ensure nothing is left to irritate baby's little butt.

DRYING:

When putting your diapers in the dryer, this is when you would take the liners out of the diapers so they can dry more evenly. Often times, the washer will naturally separate the two, but whatever it doesn't just do it yourself before drying them. 

Dry on DELICATE DRY for the maximum amount of time (my dryer calls it the MORE DRY time). 

FOLDING:

Now, with a big mound of diapers on your bed, RE-STUFF the diapers with their liners, fold them, and put them away in your baby's adorable diaper drawer. 

I toss them all back in the now clean diaper laundry bag to carry them upstairs and put away, but you could always use a laundry basket if you want. 

TIP: Keep an extra diaper laundry bag so that when one is in the wash, you have another one to line your laundry pail (trash can) with. 

(for the record- my $9 trash can works just as well as those expensive $50 diaper pails)

Bumgenius Diaper Review

Asher is rocking the Bumgenius OS in Clementine

Finding which brand of cloth diapers you like is comparable to trying to pick a bottle of sake from a Japanese restaurant- they all seem like they would be the same, but they are definitely not.

One of my favorite diapers so far has been Bumgenius brand.

Now, for the first 6-8 weeks of my baby's life, I thought the Bumgenius diapers were too wide in the crotch area, leaving my little man looking bow legged. 

I ended up using disposable diapers the first 4-6 weeks, partially because I was disabled from birth and unable to walk for that time, let alone do laundry, but the other reason was because baby was so small and the cloth diapers looked too bulky and uncomfortable so I waited until he grew a little bit.

They do have newborn cloths but those are pointless since the kid will only fit in them for the first couple months.

I opted for OS (one size fits all) diapers that could be adjusted as baby grows and used the entire duration of his little diapering life.

The Bumgenius ended up being one of my favorite brands due to their absorbability, the inserts that snap larger or smaller as needed, and because they're easy to snap on and off during the middle of the night when you want to disturb the babe as little as possible. Some moms choose to put in extra liners and leave their baby in a wet diaper all night, but that just doesn't sit well with me. I know I wouldn't want to wear a pissy diaper all night so I change him and Bumgenuius makes that easy and manageable.

I use the Bumgenius pocket diapers as well as the AIO (all in one) diapers.

The AIO is awesome because there's no stuffing or changing liners involved.

S0, here's a recap:

PROS:                                               CONS:

Absorbent                                           Too bulky for newborns

Easy to change                                  

Adjustable sized liners

Adjustable snaps to go big/small

Cute colors!

Cloth Wipes

This may seem a bit extreme to some, but CLOTH WIPES is where it's at!

It's super easy to prep your cloth wipes and they provide a healthier and more cost effective solution to regular wipes and you can make them according to the needs of you baby's delicate skin.

Not to mention, Huggies just had ANOTHER wipes scandal when several moms discovered GLASS SHARDS in their wipes! That's scary and terrible!

To make cloth wipes you have a few options:

• You can start with Baby wash cloths
• Stitch some flannel wipes out of some old shirts or pajama pants
• Or just cut out squares using no-fray fabric like fleece 

 Next,  you want to make a soapy solution to soak your wipes in. 

Usually, people use: 

OIL to make wiping easy, 

SOAP to clean Le Poop from the bum, 

WATER to dilute the other ingredients and bring them all together, 

ESSENTIAL OILS to make everything smell nice as well as for added antibacterial and antimicrobial effects. 

BASIC RECIPE:

2 c. Water 

1 T. Soap (castile or baby soap works well- I just use whatever I'm washing baby with at the time)

2 T. Coconut Oil (which adds an extra antibacterial effect and makes the wipes wipe smoothly)

3-6 drops Lavender Oil

3 drops Chamomile Oil

Soak your wipes in the solution and gently squeeze out excess water but not all of it so they don't dry out too quickly.

                                                    


 Always be cautious using essential oils on your baby! Lavender and Chamomile are the most mild and baby skin friendly oils, but if you want to use any other kind, like tea tree oil for anti fungal benefits, use in small amounts to make sure baby doesn't have a bad reaction. 

OR if you don't want to make your own solution, the one I'm posting below is a really nice natural solution so you would just soak your wipes in it and store them in a wipe container.

The wipe warmers works AMAZING for this! and keep them from getting moldy.

               

Top 5 Reasons to Cloth Diaper

When I first got pregnant and started figuring out how I would approach motherhood, I knew I wanted to raise a healthy, conscious, eco-friendly baby from birth and I knew I needed to figure out how to budget having a child, especially considering my birth resulted in me being bed-ridden for 6 weeks and unable to work for several months.

I originally started researching "natural diapers", but after coming across some shocking statistics and diaper costs, I quickly decided cloth diapering was the best decision for me and my little babe.


#1. COST

That's right cloth diapering is sooo much cheaper!!! 

If you're smart, you will make your baby registry on Amazon.com and add the cloth diapers you want, making it easy on all your family and baby shower guests! That way you get exactly what you want, you don't end up with 30 boxes of disposable diapers, and you don't have to dish out the initial investment needed for cloth diapers, which is about $300. 

Keep in mind that $300 covers all your cloth diapers needed for the kid's entire diapered life AND for any siblings that may follow.

#2. HEALTHIER FOR BABY

By wicking away moisture, your baby has less of a chance of diaper rash and skin irritations from chemicals, bleaches, and dyes used in disposable diapers.

#3. MAKES POTTY TRAINING EASIER


Since cloth diapers don't turn pee into gel from the sodium polyacrylate filling (yuck!), babies are more aware when they are wet which makes them more aware of their urges and when they need to go. This makes potty training easier for them to jump into.

Babies these days are so lazy they've gotten comfortable sitting in pee and chemical filled disposable diapers. I'm over here like, "Get off the diapers and get a job, kid!" 






#4 SUSTAINABLE AND BETTER FOR MAMA EARTH!

Not only is cloth diapering great for your budget, but it's great for the Earth. I mean honestly, the BILLIONS of diapers tossed in the landfill each year are disgusting! I sure as hell don't want to contribute to that. 

Babies don't have to turn into rotten little earth-life force-sucking trolls that deplete the land of it's beauty and natural resources. 

Sustainable babies are more likely to grow up into being sustainable adults!

#5. THEY'RE FREAKING ADORABLE AND KINDA MAKE CHANGING DIAPERS FUN 

Yeah, it's true, you somehow don't mind changing diapers as much when you have colorful, soft, adorable diapers to choose from!

The 5 Types of Cloth Diapers

When I started researching cloth diapers, I became totally overwhelmed! There are so many different types so how could you possibly know which cloth diapers work best?!

Well, I can't tell you which ones you will like best since we all have different preferences and some babies are more explosive than others! However, I can tell you what I have found to be the best and why I like them the most.

TYPES OF CLOTH DIAPERS:

Diaper Covers with prefolds-
Let's be real, prefolds are a pain in the ass. They are basically the rectangular white "diapers" that our grandmas used back in 1930, except now instead of using pins to secure them, you stuff them into a diaper cover/shell. They are bulky and annoying, but some women out there somewhere seem to like them.

 The prefolds are amazing for cleaning up spit-up and drool, covering my changing table so I don't have to wash my changing table cover as much, and for sopping up leaky milk while I sleep. However, I do not use them for actual diapers.




All in One "AIO Diapers"-
These diapers are definitely the easiest to use and are most like a disposable diaper since they consist of a diaper with absorbent inserts already attached to them.

AIO's are great for sending off to the daycare, babysitter, and for giving your dude the confidence to cloth diaper without them feeling like they're gonna mess up or do it wrong.





All in Two "AI2" Diapers-
These diapers have a diaper cover with an insert you just set inside. The cover is usually lined with some sort of fleece/fabric.

No stuffing is involved, which makes these quick and easy.

Bamboo inserts are my favorite. I'll get more in depth on inserts in another post.



Hybrid Diapers-
These are basically a type of AI2 diaper but instead of having any fabric in the cover, it consists of a thin waterproof cover/shell that you simply lay an insert inside of.

The hybrid allows you to also use disposable liners if you're on an airplane or long ride and don't want to lug around your poopy diaper bag (which if you get a reusable smell-proof carry bag doesn't matter anyways, but to each their own. :)

My favorite thing about AI2 hybrid diapers is that when baby pees, you can just replace the liner and keep him in the same diaper until he blows poop everywhere and it gets on the shell.
They are also less bulky than the other types and take up less room in your diaper bag, which means you can store more at a time.




Pocket Diaper-
These diapers are cushy and soft with a microfiber insert that you stuff inside the "pocket".

Some people think pocket diaper are more work since you have to take 10 seconds out of your day to stuff them, but they are definitely my favorite type of diapers.

From my experience, they are more absorbent, super soft, and seem to fit the most comfortably on little baby bums.

I stuff my pocket diapers when I take them out of the dryer so they're all ready to go when you need them.

Also, if you have a heavy wetter or don't want to change diapers in the middle of the night, you can just add an extra insert inside the diaper. Doubling up means less changing and don't worry, the micro fleece wicks away moisture so your baby isn't sitting in wet pee all night like a poor abused puppy left in the rain or something.

My favorite pocket diapers are CHARLIE BANANA and BUMGENIUS.





So there you have the basic five types of diapers used in cloth diapering.

A lot of moms I know buy one of each type of cloth diaper they're interested in and see which works best.

Other moms try out the 2 week trial period that a lot of companies offer so you can try out their cloth diapers risk free.

I put cloth diapers on my registry so I didn't actually have to pay for any of them myself. I just picked out what I wanted and put it on my Amazon.com and BuyBuyBaby registries.

It's definitely best to let your baby shower guests know you're choosing to cloth diaper so that you get what you want and don't end up with 30 boxes of disposable diapers. :)

Happy Diaper Hunting!