We’ve been cloth diapering for nearly three years now. I’ve even had a toddler AND newborn in cloth diapers at the same time for a few months (it made for cute photos but a not-so-cute reality.) Thank goodness, my older son decided he was potty-trained by the time his brother was three months.
We chose to cloth diaper primarily to save money. I figured that since I am home with my boys, it would be one major financial contribution for me to do the extra work involved in cloth diapering. It definitely has been!
And so began our cloth diapering journey. Here are some things we’ve learned along the way that would serve as an excellent cloth diapering starter guide for any expectant cloth diaper mamas out there!
(Disclaimer: this is what works for my family. If you’re just starting out or just starting to think about cloth diapering–just know that you will find your groove. You’ll figure out what works for you. Take whatever is helpful from my experience, and leave the rest.;) If you’re a cloth diapering veteran who disagrees with everything I’ve written here, I encourage you to write your own blog post about it–we cloth diaper moms need all the help we can get!)
(This post contains affiliate links that support this blog and the family behind it!)
You don’t need (or even want) two dozen cloth diapers.
I’ve seen many moms with their “perfect stash” of 24 cloth diapers. It made me feel like my stash of 16 was inadequate, but it was actually ideal! Because you should be washing your cloth diapers every 2-3 days. They shouldn’t sit much longer than that. So if you want to go through your whole stash before you wash, it’ll take you at least four days to go through 24 diapers, especially if you ever supplement with disposables–which brings me to my next point…
Just use disposables at night.
We learned this the hard way. Babies pee so stinkin much at night. Even if you change them each time they wake up, cloth diapers just do not hold up to the amount of wetting that happens at night. And when you’re desperate for sleep, the last thing you want to be doing is changing pajamas and crib sheets on top of a soaking wet cloth diaper. Disposable diapers have cloth diapers beaten on one thing and that is retaining liquids. They’re just better at it.
If you want to experience the difference first hand, try wearing a cloth nursing pad and a disposable nursing pad. Once the cloth is wet–it is WET. But the disposable will hold the liquid much better.
Some families have figured out a system with several extra soaker pads and an extra waterproof shell for nighttime, go for it if you want to give it a shot! We’ve tried it all too–but after many months of wrapping my baby up like a sumo wrestler, I decided to forget all that extra work (and laundry) and just use disposables for nighttime.
There will be wetting. But there won’t [typically] be blowouts.
Oh goodness, there will be wetting. As you try to get the right fit on your ever-growing baby, as you figure out how often your baby requires changing, as you learn what brands are the most absorbent–there is wetting. It’s not abnormal, and yes it’s a pain, but you’ll get better at figuring it all out. You’ll learn that no, you can’t just feel the diaper to see how “squishy” it is (as with a disposable), instead you just have to know: my baby had a feeding X hours ago so now he needs to be changed.
The good news is that there will most likely NOT be blowouts. Disposables tend to send those high-pressure poops directly up the back or down the leg, but a properly fitting cloth diaper will just about always hold that poop in. So, while you will have wetting patterns to figure out, you still have a leg up on the disposables by not dealing with blowouts nearly as much. Somehow it’s comforting to me to know that both versions of diapering has its issues.
The need for such frequent changing will ease up after solids start.
So I’ve already admitted, disposable diapers hold liquid better. And right here at the peak of my baby’s liquid intake (he’s seven months and not at all into the solids I’m offering him), I’m changing him at least every three hours. But I remember from my first babe that the frequent changing will ease up once baby starts really eating solids and not drinking his weight in milk each day. So don’t get so discouraged about the frequent changes that you give up!
Perfect Size cloth diapers are better than One Size cloth diapers.
This is a hard one to take in, especially if you’re cloth diapering because you want to save money. But if I could go back, I would have purchased 12 smalls, 16 mediums, and 12 larges. It would cost more for sure, but it would’ve been worth the investment. In fact, I’m slowly building up that “Perfect Size” stash whenever I see a good sale. Here’s why:
1.) If you’re going to use them for multiple children, they’ll be in better shape and you’ll still be saving money.
2.) Adjusting the elastics on the inside of a One Size diaper is just a pain. There are four spots to adjust elastic multiplied by 12 or more diapers EACH time baby has a growth spurt–UGH. And then they recommend replacing those elastics between children–that’s an even bigger pain! You can do it, but oh it is such a difference to have the cloth diaper that is built to fit their exact weight.
3.) One Size diapers with “outer adjustments” like buttons and such, just don’t do well when they need to be made into the small size. They leak like crazy. They do well when they’re in the large setting, but that’s at least a year of unnecessary leaking before you get to that size.
4.) If you have an especially large child, they might still outgrow the one sizes. Mine did! I had to buy him a whole new stash of large size cloth diapers when he was 18 months.
So, my advice is: make the investment up front and be sure to add these things to your baby registries! I don’t believe there is a baby gift that could be more used than a cloth diaper.
Also: If you want to go the One Size route, that will definitely work–it’s worked for us for all of this time. This is definitely just my personal experience and earnest wish that we could do it over with Perfect Sizes!
Don’t wait to start!
I got the advice that because newborns go SO OFTEN, just use disposables for the first month or so. But hey, if your baby fits in cloth diapers, put him or her in them! They will start saving you money right from the get go. Supplement with disposables between the frequent washings if need be, but don’t hold off because it’s “too much.” Ya know what else is too much? The cost of 8+ disposable diapers a day!
It’s gross but…breastfed poop doesn’t need special rinsing.
It took me a lot of skepticism before I would just drop a soiled cloth diaper into my pail without doing anything to the poop. But because breastfed poop is water soluble, it will rinse out perfectly when washed. I cannot speak to formula fed poop–I assume you would need one of the sprayer things on the toilet (and if I had to do that, I would definitely buy or make one of these spray pails.) Either way, once baby’s poop solidifies a bit, I use flushable diaper liners (they basically look like dryer sheets) and have never required special rinsing for mine.
It’s the water heat that sanitizes them!
It’s not necessarily the detergent alone that will kill out all of the poo bacteria–it’s the heat of the water! So it’s important to make sure that your water gets hot–very hot. And if you live in a house where that hot water runs out if someone takes a shower or you’ve just done dishes–WAIT until it can get hot again.
And if you’re just starting out your cloth diapering journey…
Here is my list of cloth diapering products that I use, love and recommend (I have literally sent this list to at least five friends and they have followed it to a T!) If you are pregnant and planning to do cloth diapers, I highly, highly recommend building a registry on Amazon! Even if nobody buys you anything from it, you get a completion discount for anything left on it towards the end. WORTH IT.
Cloth Diapers–While I have not tried them all, my favorite are Fuzzibunz Perfect Size diapers. I often go to Fuzzibunz.com to search for discounted diapers that have been discontinued or are just on sale. (And no, no one is paying me to say that!)
Diaper Pail–We’ve never changed out the carbon filter that comes with this, and it is still odorless!
Pail Liner–This will wash WITH the diapers inside out. I recommend having two that you can rotate, but one will do.
Cloth Diaper Detergent–I have only ever used this kind and my diapers have no stains and no funk in three years of use. I probably buy one bag every three months and that’s with around three loads of cloth diapers a week. Also: if you know what kind of water you have (hard or soft), get the corresponding detergent (hard rock or soft rock.) If you don’t know or you’re pretty sure it’s normal, go with “classic rock” as linked.
Flushable Diaper Liners–As stated above, these will save you from any special rinsing, just flush the solids and you’re good to go. A set of 200 sheets usually lasts me around two months.
Wet Bags–For when you leave home with a cloth diaper on. These double as great bags to put wet swimsuits in, too!
Some extra tidbits for first timers:
-Your cycle for washing is: Rinse and spin on COLD, Heavy wash on HOT with the normal rinse that would follow and one extra cold rinse after that. Hang dry in the sun to get out stains, otherwise medium heat in the dryer is just fine (and most efficient for time!)
-Bleaching will void warranties (though I know some moms who do it, I don’t.)
-If you have ammonia buildup (ie they always smell funky, are much less absorbent, and/or baby gets something that looks like a burn on their heiny) try stripping the diapers (do a quick google search to decide what’s best for you.) I use this Funk Rock detergent once every four to six months before washing and it’s been just fine.
-Don’t use diaper rash creams. Ever. Cloth diaper babies hardly have diaper rash, but if yours does, either try some coconut or jojoba oil (maybe with a drop of tea tree or lavender essential oils in there.) Or just switch to disposables for a few days and then slather on the diaper rash cream. (<–my favorite kind.)
-It’s not that bad. Whether you use disposables or cloth, you are still dealing with someone else’s poop daily. Nobody gets out of it no matter which method they choose. It’s all gross, but it’s amazing how parents overcome the disgust so quickly when they have a little one to love. :)
-Also and finally, I do not place myself above anybody who uses disposables. This is not a Mommy War issue for me at all. Everyone has to do exactly what works for their family and there is no wrong answer here.
As stated early on, this is all what has worked for my family. Your experience may be totally different, but we’re all just learning as we go here, as is true with most of motherhood!
And that’s that! That’s everything I can think to tell you about cloth diapers. I hope it helps anyone who is just starting out. Would you leave a comment and let me know if it does? Or if you have any additional questions, I would be happy to answer them!
If you’re still on the fence about cloth diapering, here is a super helpful infographic from my pal Jenny over at MomLovesBest.com that she told me I could share with all of you!
Hey, thanks for stopping by! I write about more than cloth diapering–from practical tips to encouragement for moms bogged down in their daily work, read on?
***I hope you all will understand that I won’t publish rude comments that tear down a post that took me hours to write. Respectful disagreement and constructive criticism I am always fine with publishing.***
Some interesting tips-we’re just about to start using cloth on our third child. I have to say we found the opposite to alot of your tips (I preferred OSFM over sized and found sposies leaked more at night) but I guess it goes to show how individual each family is. :)
Thank you for taking the time to tell us newbies ask this great info and links!! I had looked at a diaper service but seemed expensive but we just got a washer and dryer so I really want to start cloth diapers!
First time mommy and I’ll be doing cloth diapers. This is so much info and answered all of my questions so thank you!!!! I’m excited to try these out. :)
How exciting!! Good luck, Michell! I wish you the absolute best, not just with cloth diapering but with motherhood. I hope you’ll stop back in if ever you could use some encouragement on the hard days.<3
I really dislike that you suggest people to use disposable diapers during the night and the first few weeks of birth. I feel as if you are encouraging moms to use disposable during these times even with your disclaimer as your opener. Most moms choose to cloth diaper their child, because its the healthiest choice for their baby and on the environment. However, I do love that you mention 16 is plenty enough diapers to have in your stash.
Hi Jess! Thanks for commenting! So first off, I said to NOT delay starting cloth diapers in the first few weeks after birth. My exact words were, “Don’t wait to start!” It’s common advice that many give but I do not. If baby fits in them, I say, start wearing them!
As for the disposables at night, I respect your opinion. For moms who choose cloth for health reasons (keeping chemicals off of that precious baby skin–I get that), then yeah, give cloth diapering at night your best go. I think I encouraged those who wanted to give it a try to go ahead and do it. I tried! This is just the advice that I wish some cloth diaper mom would’ve given me before I was a sleep deprived mombie changing crib bedding in the middle of the night wondering what I was doing wrong. I needed someone to tell me that I wasn’t a cloth diaper failure for using sposies at night.
I appreciate you stopping by and wish you the best!
Thank you for being “real” with your advice and your experiences. And thank you for not being a “Judgey” mom.
As a hopeful first time mom (second pregnancy, after my first ended in miscarriage) and I was looking into possibly using cloth diapers but wanted a true picture of what it could look like for my family. You provided that while being super supportive of any other moms experiences or choices. You are amazing.
I am looking forward to sitting down with a blanket, hot tea (decaf, of course) and immersing myself in your other blog posts!!
Amanda, I’m usually nervous to check comments on this post because so many have been negative (like, you wouldn’t believe.) Yours made me tear up with joy. Seriously, what a gift, thank you for your encouragement, sister! And as for you, God bless the rest of your pregnancy. I’m so sorry for the loss of your first. I know the heartache does not go away, but I know our deepest suffering shapes us into better moms. May you hold your second baby all the closer, linger a little longer, enjoy the sweet moments all the more because you know first hand how precious life is. I hope to keep in touch with you, Amanda, especially as your journey of motherhood continues. ❤️
Hi!! I am a momma of a 14 month toddler expecting my second in August! I dilly-dallied with the idea of cloth diapers with my first and tried them out a few different times, but got way overwhelmed! I definitely agree with you and appreciate that you give the reassurance that if you need to keep your middle-of-the-night sanity by throwing on a disposable diaper – do it!
Between my son sleeping 6+ hours a night at 2 months (and only getting longer from there – averages 12-13 hours a night!), him being a chunky thighed/thin waisted baby, and me having majority one size diapers, trying to keep up with all the pee-outs and never sure if I had the diapers snapped to the right size your advice encouraged me that maybe I can do this with the next one (and even transition my toddler back into them!)
We’ll see how things go, but I am excited to give it another go with a little more intentionality and purpose this time!
Loved the blog! We just started cloth diapering with our 2 month old daughter. She’s our first so I’m looking foward to the money saved with additional kids. We use OS pockets now and it feels like we are pros after only a couple months. Husband has been a champ at stuffing diapers! We waited to start cloth until the black poo stopped because that’s some scary looking stuff and I was afraid to ruin our diapers! We started with the small aio right after that and she stayed in them for about a month.
One thing that I have in my routine is cloth wipes. You toss them in the wash with the diapers and it saves money. What could take 5 disposable wipes (the REALLY bad poops) only takes 2-3 reusable wipes.
Great advice, Jennifer! Thanks for sharing!! I need to try cloth wipes again. I noticed they made my diapers take so much long in the dryer but would love to try it again. Do you use a wipe warmer or any homemade solution on them?
Just a normal wipes warmer with the wipes rolled up and a little bit of water. Nothing too fancy. I know people that use oils and homemade solutions which smell nice.
I’ve been cloth diapering for over a year, and honestly I have to say that I find most of what is listed here to be inaccurate. My daughter fit one size diapers just fine at 10 weeks old (and wore newborn before that). Most of the time it is a fit issue. We also avoided diapers that have elastics that have to be altered and just used snaps. I’ve found them to be really easy. We’ve very rarely had leaks, and my daughter is actually really small (10th percentile).
I also think it’s possible to do cloth at night, though it does take a bit of a special set up. I’ve made my daughter some night diapers, but she also does just fine in a bamboo flat with another flat padfolded in. It’s bulky as all get out, but it functions well and doesn’t leak. My daughter also still nurses at night, so it’s pretty impressive that I’ve found something that works.
I think some of the issues you’ve had with leaks might be from change time. Recommended is to change no less than every two hours for cloth. Well, honestly, for disposables, too, but no one aside from day cares (I used to work in one and it was policy) normally follow it for disposables. If I’ve had a leak, it’s usually either user error (Left an insert sticking out) or because I forgot to change her or we were out and I didn’t get to it soon enough. If you’re using microfiber inserts, generally you’ll have to change more frequently because microfiber has issues with compression leaks.
The thing that I’m really nervous about is the advice that you should use scalding hot water to wash. It’s not actually very good for the diapers to use super hot water, but it’s also really not good for households with kids to have the water heater set so high. Just as an example, my daughter one day figured out how to work the faucet in the bathtub, and she did it while holding her arm under the hot water. Thankfully our water heater is set lower, but if it had been set high, she would have been burned, possibly badly, and I find that terrifying.
You don’t really need the hot water to sanitize the diapers, and in actuality, the water coming from the tap, even set super hot, isn’t the boiling hot it would need to be for proper sanitization (which isn’t good for any diapers with elastics). If you use a good detergent, you really don’t need hot water. You could even wash cold if you wanted. I used to live overseas and we didn’t even have hot water hookups for the washer, but my neighbors never had an issue with dirty diapers. I’d honestly rather see someone add bleach to every wash than turn up their water heater.
I’ve had a lot of success with several good detergents. Wisk is my favorite, but I’ve also used Gain (didn’t like the smell), Arm and Hammer with Oxi, and Tide (nice because I don’t have to add a water softener). I just use the recommended amount for a heavily soiled load (the biggest line) and they come clean just fine. :) I do a prewash first, then add the recommended detergent amount in the second heavy duty wash. Rockin’ Green is actually not a very good detergent for diapers because most people have issues with smells over time, and a lot of people have even had babies get ammonia burns because diapers weren’t clean enough. If you read the one star reviews on the link you have, you’ll see what I mean. It’s basically water softeners, and honestly it’s really overpriced water softeners at that.
I actually make and sell diapers, so it always makes me a little sad to see a lot of the wash advice out there. So much of it really comes from diaper stores or diaper companies who are just looking to profit by selling their own detergents, but it sucks because the detergents they’re asking you to use just aren’t enough to really get things clean. Almost anything you could by at a normal grocery store works better. I made the mistake of trying one of the “cloth safe” detergents when I started out. Thankfully I realized pretty quickly that it wasn’t working that well and switched over.
Hi! I only want to say that while scalding hot water is dangerous, bacteria can grow in the heater if it’s not high enough. You may want to run a water test kit to make sure you don’t have issues. Some shower/bath faucets have safety features built in. These are better options. I’m a bit of a paranoid water drinker but it’s so easy to get sick and not realize why.
Hey, fellow cloth diaper mom. Thanks for taking the time to write about your experience. Our experience so far has been pretty much the total opposite!
I love having a large stash but we have more than one type of diaper. I like different types for different times. I definitely recommend not buying only one brand.
I recommend changing, or checking, the diaper every 2 hours I’d hate to leave the baby in pee longer than that.
I don’t like “cloth safe” detergent because it doesn’t clean well. If the diapers are getting clean enough, stripping isn’t needed. We’ve not had to strip since using tide or gain.
I haven’t had to use disposables at night yet but i know some ladies who do.
Every experience is different. If I could give one piece of advice I’d say try several things to find what works for you.
Belinda, thank you for your advice! And hey, thanks for sharing a different opinion so kindly. It’s ridiculous how mean some comments can be! (I’m a real person behind this blog with real feelings too!:P)
I agree that it’s worth trying various types of diapers (they’re just usually cheaper to buy as sets rather than individually, that’s my only hang up.) I have used four brands and Fuzzibunz has been the most tried and true for us, hence the advocation. But by all means, try before you stock up on a favorite!
I’m hearing a lot of comments about changing every two hours and I don’t disagree with that either. For us it’s a MAX of three hours but really I KNOW based on how much my babe drank and how long ago it was. I think all cloth diaper moms can figure out that rhythm and something as scheduled as “every two hours” is just too rigid a rule for EVERYONE all the time.
I’m also hearing a lot of advocation for Tide and other detergents. And that’s great too! All’s I’m saying is I’ve used Rockin Green for over three years now and have no stains and no funk. I like it! And I don’t know if my use of a bouncer counts as stripping but I really just do that for good measure. It’s not because I’ve had issues. It’s not the only detergent out there but I’m not about to endorse something that I haven’t personally used and seen good results from.
Again, thanks for sharing your seasoned wisdom so gracefully. Have a lovely day, sister!
Thanks for sharing your experience! I personally had terrible luck with CD safe detergents (stink, ammonia) but I’m glad you’ve had a good experience with it!
I only use Tide right now and that’s what works for my super hard water and I add borax as a softener. My water temp doesn’t get that got either. I also use a lot of petroleum based creams with no problem, but I only use natural fiber diapers.
Thanks for sharing your experience! We’ve been doing cloth for 16+ months now, and will soon have two in cloth. I’m so excited! It’s interesting to me how vastly different our cloth experiences have been. For us, disposable diapers almost always leak at night, while a good hemp fitted diaper under a cover has been bulletproof! I also skipped using the pricier cloth-safe washing soap, and use the inexpensive regular mainstream detergent, resulting in zero stink issues. I am, though, a little surprised at the advice to turn up the water heat – temperatures high enough to actually sanitize are not good for PUL and elastics. Good luck with the rest of your journey!
I have been CDing for over 2.5 years and I am addicted to fluffy bottoms and am sad that my CDing days are soon coming to an end. I will say that my daughter dream nursed until she was almost two. She would outpee disposables unless I added an extra disposable insert to it – and at about $0.40 – $0.50 each, we only did that on vacation. A hemp fitted (Pooters) with an extra hemp insert worked better than a sposie for us until she night weaned. I never got into wool, but I love fleece covers for overnight. So breathable.
I also had terrible luck with “cloth safe” detergent. Tide powder and Borax is the only thing that works for me, but if you have luck with “cloth safe” detergent that’s great. My diapers are 2.5 years old and still look brand new being washed in Tide and Borax and I never have to strip.
I will add that I used to be a paramedic. Please, don’t set your hot water heater above 120 degrees Fahrenheit to reduce the risk of scalding. I’ve taken care of a baby who reached up and turned on the hot water even though his mom was an arm’s length away. It wasn’t pretty. Hot water from the tap should be no where near hot enough to disinfect diapers. If you use flats or prefolds, you can boil them, but it’s easier to do a bleach soak (bleach biodegrades into salt and water so it really isn’t terrible – I bleached my daughter’s diapers when she had a stomach bug and they are still fine).Really hot water also damages elastics.
Up until my daughter was about a year old, we changed roughly every two hours. Now that she’s a toddler, it’s every 3-4 hours because she doesn’t pee as often.
You could always have another baby so you could use still use the cloth diapers! LOL
I really enjoyed this blog, not just for the information but for the way it was presented. So many articles on this subject have a evangelical approach which makes people feel they have to follow it to the letter.
We used terry squares with a nappy nippa and covers for ours which were great and after the kids were dry we were able to use them as cleaning cloths to get that last bit of use out of them!
Both of our kids slept through the night very early (don’t hate me!) which meant disposables at night were the best for us. Using just 1 washable per day saves up to 900 disposable nappies per child saved so even if people can’t do it 100%, every little helps!
Thank you for being balanced and sharing your experiences rather than preaching them!
Thank YOU for your kind and informative comment, Charlotte! That’s awesome that you can cloth diaper through the night (even more awesome that you have great sleepers!) Keep it up, girlfriend! :)
Hey, I just won a bid for a set for four Charlie Banana diapers- and I’m so nervous! I feel like I’ve gotten started way late in the game (as my kiddo’s two) but she’s in the 98th percentile and no diapers fit her so cloth was recommended. I feel like I’m going to screw everything up and waste a ton of money in the process- how steep is the learning curve for these things? I can read all the ‘articles’ and nothing seems to make sense to me but the way you explain things. Thank you for any advice you have to offer!
Don’t fret, Jamie! (I had a big two year old too and cloth worked well for us then!) Get those flushable liners I recommended in this post, I think they make the whole process so much more simple. (No special rinsing, just figure out a washing routine that you like.) I’ve heard cloth helps toddlers potty train sooner as they feel legitimately wet when they’re wet (as opposed to disposables.) I’ll hope that’s the case for you. You will totally get this as you go, but if you have specific questions as you go, I’m just an email away. :) nourishinglittlesouls@gmail.com
Also! I’m about to do a cloth wipe giveaway over on my Facebook page so look me up over there! I’d love for you to win them!
New to cloth diapering over here. Thanks for your comment about your stash – it’s definitely helpful to know! Question – our diapers do just fine for my 6 month old, who pees SO much! She actually has fewer leaks with cloth at night than she did with Pampers and Target brand disposables! However, my 2-year-old pees through cloth in an instant. Did you have to make any insert adjustments, etc. as your oldest grew? Some days I feel like we’re so close to potty training, and other days it feels so far away…
You know, something I didn’t mention in this post that I should have is that I double stuff my cloth diapers. My one size Fuzzibunz diapers came with two different size inserts and I’ve found life is better when I just use both! I can hardly trust one insert by itself for an hour. Since I’ve been buying the perfect size diapers, they’ve only come with one insert. I think it’s worth buying a second set of cloth inserts so that you can double stuff at any age.
I would encourage you to keep with cloth while you’re getting close to potty training. The wetness that they feel with cloth helps them to WANT to potty train (at least that was true for my son who is now 3.5 and decided he was potty trained a little before 2.5!) I’d also ensure that she’s getting lots of liquids during the day, but really discourage the drinking an hour or two before bedtime. I remember the nap and night wettings being our biggest hurdles with our son and ANY diapers. I hope that helps a little, definitely double stuff if you’re not already. :)
I found this to be so helpful! really great applicable advice and great links! thank you!
About the stash: YES! I survived the first four months of my baby’s life with 4 cloth diapers! It was rough, but I now have 7 and that works great for us! I remember seeing other mamas with their stashes of 40+ and reading articles saying the minimum to start was 25. It can be done with much less! You’ll be doing laundry constantly but it can be done. With 7, I do a load of diapers once a day. I don’t have a diaper pail either so I would anyway to keep away the smell!
Thanks for the information. Your blog was informative and well-thought out. I think it is nice that you are willing to share your advice, and wish that people would be more sensitive to that fact! Keep on keeping on.
Some I agree with, and some I don’t. That’s ok because our families are different. The one thing I am most sad to see in my opinion is the discontinuation of so many sized diapers. I feel like so many brands are switching to one size adjustables so our options are dwindling.
P.s. Fuzzibunz perfect size are by far my all time favorite and I’m not paid to say that either!
Let me just start by saying that I love your blog. I’m going to be a first time mom in a few months and EVERYONE that I’ve told about wanting to cloth diaper my child has looked at me like I’m insane. Reading this post has definitely made me feel better knowing the real side of it, as I’ve read many different blogs and points of view on the matter. I can’t wait to give it a try! Now it’s time for me to delve into more of your posts. Happy writing!
Thanks so much for writing this article! I am getting ready to have another and changing to clothe but I am very scared to try. This made me feel a lot better!
Hey Kate,
I have previously commented on your blog before while I was pregnant. My baby boy will be a month old on Friday. I dont know where the time has gone. We have been cloth diapering for two weeks now. I revisit your post to look up safe ways of stripping diapers without it being too harsh on my son or on the diapers for future reference. I just wanted to give new mommies or new to cloth diapering tips. We have Bum genius one size fits all and free time style. My husband and I have noticed that bamboo inserts work alot better than microfiber inserts. We just have to change inserts when using bamboo instead of washing the whole diaper everytime. Making your own flannel wipes, sprayer, and shield is way cheaper then buying them.
Thanks for the tips, Jess! And congratulations on one month of mommy hood! It is so sweet that you came back to share. I love it! Keep on clothin, girlfriend! :)
Great post! Not everything you wrote agrees with what works for my family, but every family has different needs based on size and shape of baby, etc. I love my one size diapers, and I’ve only found one brand of disposable diaper that didn’t leak very sing time I tried to use it overnight. I love my giant overnight double-stuffed diapers:) Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for sharing your experience as a mom.
I’m not pregnant yet( But I will be soon- for the first time). But I’m already saving things and trying to learn new things, and I already have so many questions.
My mom used cloth diapers for her 3 kids and that time cloth dipers was very different and not so efficient as the new ones .Diposable she used when we were going in a trip or something that she needed more protection. I think the new cloth diapers helps so much it more efficient and I want to do the same. I learned so much with you today and also with the comments. I defenely want to use cloth diapers specially after you answering my questions. I just saved it in my Pinterest and I will be reading everything in your blog…I read this one and I could see how amazing mom you are and how you care about your kid and family. May God bless yall :)
Thank you so much for this! I’m expecting and my husband and I wanted to consider cloth but there are so many different articles out there it’s a bit overwhelming. Reading your tried-and-true suggestions are very helpful and addressed many of our questions!
Wow this post was really detailed, but now I worry that there is so much involved that I won’t be able to keep up when it’s time to go back to work. Is the special detergent necessary? And what all is involved with the sanitation process? I do not have a sanitize setting on my washer.
Hi Brianna! I hope you won’t be intimidated from cloth diapering just because of the details. As with so much of pregnancy, birth and motherhood, there is a LOT of information to take in, and yet we all kind of learn on the job anyway, right? You start out, you go through trial and error and you figure out your groove. This list here is just my reflections on some details I wish someone had sat me down and told me at the beginning.
Now, as for going back to work, I cannot offer much wisdom there. I can say that I WAS a nanny to a cloth diaper baby and learned the ropes from the mom who walked me through it. It is very possible! But as for me, now that I am the cloth diaper mom? I won’t even let my husband wash the cloth diapers because I can’t trust him to do it right! Now, that’s just me with my protective nature over my stash, but it is hard to teach someone else your groove.
As for the detergent, I’ve heard lots of moms use Tide or make their own detergent! Just read through the comments as many of them prefer their detergent over my suggested Rockin Green. I have only ever used Rockin Green and have perfectly clean diapers after nearly four years of use now. So, of course, I’ll only endorse what I’ve personally used. I’m not sure if you use Amazon, but I just keep my soap on Subscribe and Save every 3 months and there’s always plenty! But yes, many moms are perfectly happy with other non-specialized detergents.
And then the sanitation is just a bunch of button pushing, no big! (Although my husband always says it sounds like I should launch a rocket ship after all of the buttons I push!:P) Do an initial rinse and spin, then just put your washer on the hottest setting for heavy soil with an extra rinse at the end and you are golden.
I hope that helps, Brianna! I apologize for the tardy reply. I wish you the best! <3
Thanks for all the great advice, Kate. My first baby will be here in April, and I can’t wait to experience the world of cloth diapering with him. :D I took plenty of notes, and appreciate you taking the time to help out new mommies like me!
Kate,
i was on fuzzibunz’ss website and i can not find the perfect size diapers. did they discontinue them? i saw they had a first year diapers and then the one size fits all. will i only be able to get them on Amazon?
Oh man, I did not realize they discontinued the perfect sizes! Thank you for bringing it to my attention! Gah! Why do they have to change things and make all of my advice outdated? :P Yes, I would look your hardest on Amazon (but if the deal isn’t right, don’t go for it.) Perhaps Fuzzibunz has turned a new leaf and their One Sizes are better than they were for me four years ago now. I still love that brand, so I’d say it’s still worth trying. I’ve also heard good things about Charlie Banana, so you might see what their sizing looks like. I have NOT loved Bum Genius or Tiny Tush (just my experience, but I’ve had the most leaks with those two brands.) If you find a diaper you love, please come back and share! Happy diapering!
I’m only a month away from meeting my first baby and so excited! I’m a nervous wreck about cloth diapering but your blog gave me some great tips. Worse case scenario is more laundry, right?! Lol
I’ve already added a few things to my Amazon registery that I had missed (pails and liners). I understand your point of spending the extra money on funbuizz (spelling?) brand BUT I don’t have the money on hand to spend that much for one diaper at the moment. So, that being said I have already had someone buy me a set of ALVA brand (one size with buttons). After reading your article I thought I should register for a different brand just in case ALVA doesn’t work for us. Is there another brand you suggest? One that sales in a pack instead of one at a time?
Hi April! There are lots of ways you can build your stash. Asking for them as gifts is GREAT! I am not familiar with ALVA, but I have heard good things about Charlie Banana if you’re looking for a recommendation other than Fuzzibunz. I haven’t personally tried enough other brands to vouch for any others but I’ll just say that so much of cloth diapering is trial and error. What one mom may love, you may hate, what another mom loves, you may hate. So scour websites for discounts, try different brands (I still love buying discontinued and discounted Fuzzibunz diapers directly from their website a few at a time to build my stash.) I also have friends who have built their stashes by buying second hand. This is an especially great deal if it’s a mom who tried cloth diapering and gave up early on. ;) If you go that route, be sure to give them a good look over for stains and a sniff for any lingering funk. I wish you the best on your journey. Please do come back and tell me if you find a brand you love! Hugs, sister!
I am just starting cloth diapering and using Alva one size covers and they have worked great for me so far. My baby is 5 m though so I don’t know how well they hold up over time or with small baby. I also have one aio from fuzzibunz.
We are pregnant with our first baby. I love all of your ideas! I’m super excited. My one question: I can’t find the Fuzzibunz “Perfect Size.” I only see Fuzzibunz “One Size” and “First Year” on their website. Did they get rid of the “Perfect Size?” I want to make sure I get the right Fuzzibunz. I want to get several of each small, medium and large in the quantities that you had suggested. Thank you for your help!
Hi Linnea! I’m so happy for you! I’ve heard that Fuzzibunz has discontinued their “perfect” size cloth diapers and come out with what you mentioned.:( I need to try them out so I can update my advice! To make my advice more applicable to all brands, I would just say that cloth diapers that are designed to fit as small, medium and large really do fit more nicely than the adjustable one sizes. BUT I just had my third baby and we are still happily using our first stash of one size fuzzibunz cloth diapers, so you cannot really go wrong. And I would venture to guess that their one sizes cloth diaper designs NOW are an improvement from my purchases back in 2012 (has it really been that long?! Yes, wow.) Thanks for commenting, I’ll be updating this post as soon as I can!
I used cloth diapers, and agree wholeheartedly to use disposable at night. Huggies worked well for me at night. I used cloth all day even at nap time and just limited liquids right before nap. Great post!
You may have answered this, but what kind of liner do you use for cloth diapers?
Thanks!
I use the OsoCozy Liners on Amazon. Here’s a link –> https://www.amazon.com/OsoCozy-Flushable-Diaper-Liners-Convenient/dp/B004N3C2YM/ref=pd_nav_hcs_bia_t_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=E67CEAE006DS3TB1CMP8
In all of these years of cloth diapering, I’ve had favorite brands of liners come and go. You may have to try out a few to find what you like. I recommend buying just one roll at a time to see what you like (and then stock up when the deal is right!)
Thank you so much for being so informative. There are so many articles out about cloth diapering and it can be overwhelming. I used disposables with my first child and am now expecting my second and I want to do things more natural and save more money this time around. So glad other people have also chimed in with their personal experience and started conversation. I have a bunch of blog posts to read and this is one of the first I got all the way through and thought was helpful. Is there any other advice you can give to someone who is used to doing the disposable method?
Thanks for the kind words, Brittany! Honestly, the best advice out of this whole thing is that you will read and read and get a feel for everything, but you will figure it out as you go. You will troubleshoot how certain brands fit your baby and what wetting patterns your baby has. So be open to the journey of learning, don’t get too frustrated, just learn from whatever doesn’t work, and don’t let the internet intimidate you. You’ve got this!
And hey, if you need to take a week or a month or a season off from cloth, it sure is easy to buy a box of disposables. There isn’t any shame in that. You do what works best for you, Mama. <3
We use HumBird supernova overnight and a wool cover. It’s better than a disposable! The diaper is the best fitted on the market and the wool is lanolized and doesn’t let anything leak + it’s way more breathable than plastic. Only thing that kept my son dry!
I’ll have to give that a try, Jean! Thanks for the suggestion!
I want to try cloth diapers also and I’m kinda confused what will I need for my baby who’s 6 months and a heavy wetter. I would love to stop using disposable diapers. Does it take a lot of works when you use a cloth diaper? It’s eco-friendly and of course, less expensive :)
I know this is an old article, but I stumbled upon it during a google search and wanted to give my opinion for any mamas out there wanting to start cloth diapering. First off, washing diapers on HOT will destroy the elastics and PUL along with drying them on Medium heat. I have been cloth diapering for 3 years and always wash in warm with 2 cycles. The first is a rinse cycle with a small amount of Tide powder. Second cycle is a power wash with the most agitation and highest rise of water. I always line dry my shells (pocket diapers) so that they do not get ruined in the dryer.
I have also been using disposables at night because nighttime cloth diapering is trial and error. What works for one baby may not work for another at night. But recently, I started using Grovia Ones or Twinkie Tush fitteds with covers. It is possible to cloth diaper at night and baby still feels dry with the help of fleece liners.
Looking at the stats of disposable diapers that are dumped every year (more than 18 billion) I feel reusable diapers are one of the best choices that a parent can make (including myself). I’m currently buying Superbottoms diapers for my baby and it’s a great product.
Excellent and useful content on baby cloth diaper! much informative! Thanks guys. I came to know a lot