Ten Things about Cloth Diapers.

I’ve known since I was senior in high school that I would cloth diaper one day. That may seem a little crazy, but we had a debate in my Environmental Science class and I was convinced. The decision wasn’t a big deal and figuring out what cloth diapering entailed was as easy as turning to my awesome cloth diapering aunts. By the way, cloth diapers are way, way different now than when we were babies. I don’t claim to be an expert, as I’ve only been doing this for two months. This isn’t as much of a how-to post as it is a how-and-why-I-do post. (For how-to guides, this is a great starting point, as is this.) I will try to answer any questions you have, though!

1. I don’t have enough. But I don’t have the money to buy more right now. Maybe we’ll get some for Christmas? Our current stash is seven one-size and three smalls (mostly gifts). We do a load of diapers every or every other day, with some disposable supplementing thrown in.

2. Washing isn’t gross at all. Since he only consumes breast milk, his poop is water-soluble and the diapers can just be thrown in the washing machine, no pre-rinsing required. If you can handle wiping a baby butt, you can handle dumping a bag of dirty cloth diapers in the machine. Promise. Our set-up involves this pail liner. You could probably just use the same trash bag over and over, too.

3. One-size FuzziBunz are my favorite. Now, I’ve only tried three types – FuzziBunz one-size, FuzziBunz perfect size and GroBaby one-size. My aunts have tried them all and found that FuzziBunz were the best for not leaking and have snaps instead of Velcro, and since I intend to use these diapers for future babies, I prefer snaps since they don’t wear out like Velcro can. The GroBaby diaper inserts take longer to dry and tend to bunch up. Plus, FuzziBunz are soft fleece. I think I’ll also try BumGenius 4.0, since they also have snaps.

4. Newborns CAN wear cloth diapers! Once he reached eight pounds – he was maybe 10 days old? He grows like a weed. A chubby weed. – I threw cloth diapers on him. We just made it work – adjusting the snaps as tight and small as possible.

5. He doesn’t wear cloth overnight. In order to get our beauty sleep, I put a disposable diaper on him for 10-12 hours a night. Disposables hold more pee and wick the moisture away from his skin. (I think I’ve gone over the importance of sleep here before. When I was a rookie, I’d change his diaper and re-swaddle him and sit up to nurse him…now Gabe and I stay half-asleep while he nurses. Sleep is priceless!)

6. No more poop explosions or diaper rash. Period. (Though there is still some pee leakage now and then.)

7. We’ve saved money. Like, a lot. I’ve only had to buy two packs of diapers since he was born, which is sort of amazing since most people go through that much in a week. Saving money is the number one reason I cloth diaper (waste and keeping Gabe away from yucky chemicals are the other reasons).

8. So. Much. Less. Waste. I am amazed at how much waste we created when we used disposable diapers for a weekend while traveling. It’s a little crazy, really. Babies create so much extra waste already (har har), no use in adding to it with disposable diapers!

9. We cloth diaper on the go. Usually. It’s easy to throw used cloth diapers in a wet bag like this, and just bring along a few extra cloth diapers. If I’m leaving him with my mom, I bring disposables.

10. Big baby booty. The cloth diapers add some bulk to Gabe’s behind, which means he tends to grow out of onesies more quickly.  No loss, really, since I get impatient for him to wear his cute clothes in the next size!