I get asked about cloth diapers allll the time. And I'm so happy to talk about them! Here's my answer. I think cloth diapers are...
no big deal. a pretty good investment. and cuuuuute.
My experience with them has been so great! I know that lots of people are putting cloth on their babies' bottoms nowadays and there's not much mystery left to it, but I wanted to write this post because this is one of the topics that I get questions about most frequently. And because I just think it's fun to talk about babies and their buns! Here are some of the questions I get asked about my diapers....
1. What brand do I use? Are you happy with them? We have Flip diapers and really like them. It's so simple. Just a one-size cover (with snaps, no pins) that you adjust as your baby grows, and a few choices for inserts. We have the stay-dry inserts. There are cheaper options than these, but we liked this system the best.
2. How many diapers do you have? We have 8 covers and 24 inserts. We bought 4 of these packs, if you're interested. I really like that you have the option of re-using the covers if they aren't dirty!
3. How often do I do diaper laundry? Ummm, right now it's about every 2 or 3 days. This has changed a lot since Hadley was teeny! It has varied from once a week to every other day. It depends on how often we re-use our covers before washing and if we're doubling-up on inserts (which I'll explain more later).
4. Where do you store dirty diapes until you're ready to do laundry? We bought this wet bag to store dirties. We hang it inside our basement door, which is where our washer and dryer are. (in the basement).
5. My diapers stink! Any advice? Yes! We had a stink last summer and got Funk Rock. It works. Also, my sister-in-law taught me the trick of putting in a couple big towels with my load of diapers so that the washer will use more water when rinsing.
6. Do you ever use disposables? Yep. We keep some disposables on hand for when we're going to be out and about, going to grandma's, or when we run out of clean cloth diapers. We also used disposables for the first 2 months of Hadley's life, because we were living at Camp Shetek and didn't have our own personal washer/dryer.
7. What about.... poop. If it's scrape-able or toss-able, take it to the toilet. If it's just from straight breast milk, it's water-soluble and will be fine in the washer. Wherever it ends up, it's going to be okay.
8. My diapers are stained! Don't worry, mine are too! When it's convenient, and I remember to do it, I put wet diapers outside to dry in the sun and they bleach like magic!
9. What about leaking issues? This could mean you need to adjust the size for your baby, or, in our case, we started doubling up on our inserts and that solved the problem right away! As Hadley has gotten older, we started laying two inserts inside the same cover, and I didn't need to change my babe every time I turned my head.
10. General thoughts/advice on cloth diapers? At first, when we put Hadley into her Flips, I hated it. I hated the hugeness on her bum and how it changed her shape. It just looked weird! Needless to say, after a few hours I was over it. She is adorable in her diapes! I think they are so helpful and cute. economical and clean. and not any more gross than changing a diaper that's not cloth.
Edited to add questions from the comments:
What's the monthly cost estimate for cloth diapering? What about special detergent? We spent around $200 on the diapers initially, and have been using them about 20 months now which = $10 per month so far, and obviously, it will be more cost-effective the longer we go. The diapers are still in great condition and will be used for more babies, so who knows how long we'll make that initial $200 last. I use the same detergent on the diapers that I use on everything we wash, so I don't have to buy anything extra. I use this jug of Charlie's Soap and it lasts forever.. like half a year at least.
Can you store a wet bag somewhere other than a basement?/Are they difficult to keep clean? Yes, but you might want to get a garbage can with a lid to store it in, just to prevent any smells taking over your house :) Our diapers come out of the wash really clean, but I do like to use Funk Rock once in awhile to deep clean and get rid of any lingering smell.
no big deal. a pretty good investment. and cuuuuute.
My experience with them has been so great! I know that lots of people are putting cloth on their babies' bottoms nowadays and there's not much mystery left to it, but I wanted to write this post because this is one of the topics that I get questions about most frequently. And because I just think it's fun to talk about babies and their buns! Here are some of the questions I get asked about my diapers....
2. How many diapers do you have? We have 8 covers and 24 inserts. We bought 4 of these packs, if you're interested. I really like that you have the option of re-using the covers if they aren't dirty!
3. How often do I do diaper laundry? Ummm, right now it's about every 2 or 3 days. This has changed a lot since Hadley was teeny! It has varied from once a week to every other day. It depends on how often we re-use our covers before washing and if we're doubling-up on inserts (which I'll explain more later).
4. Where do you store dirty diapes until you're ready to do laundry? We bought this wet bag to store dirties. We hang it inside our basement door, which is where our washer and dryer are. (in the basement).
5. My diapers stink! Any advice? Yes! We had a stink last summer and got Funk Rock. It works. Also, my sister-in-law taught me the trick of putting in a couple big towels with my load of diapers so that the washer will use more water when rinsing.
6. Do you ever use disposables? Yep. We keep some disposables on hand for when we're going to be out and about, going to grandma's, or when we run out of clean cloth diapers. We also used disposables for the first 2 months of Hadley's life, because we were living at Camp Shetek and didn't have our own personal washer/dryer.
7. What about.... poop. If it's scrape-able or toss-able, take it to the toilet. If it's just from straight breast milk, it's water-soluble and will be fine in the washer. Wherever it ends up, it's going to be okay.
8. My diapers are stained! Don't worry, mine are too! When it's convenient, and I remember to do it, I put wet diapers outside to dry in the sun and they bleach like magic!
9. What about leaking issues? This could mean you need to adjust the size for your baby, or, in our case, we started doubling up on our inserts and that solved the problem right away! As Hadley has gotten older, we started laying two inserts inside the same cover, and I didn't need to change my babe every time I turned my head.
10. General thoughts/advice on cloth diapers? At first, when we put Hadley into her Flips, I hated it. I hated the hugeness on her bum and how it changed her shape. It just looked weird! Needless to say, after a few hours I was over it. She is adorable in her diapes! I think they are so helpful and cute. economical and clean. and not any more gross than changing a diaper that's not cloth.
Edited to add questions from the comments:
What's the monthly cost estimate for cloth diapering? What about special detergent? We spent around $200 on the diapers initially, and have been using them about 20 months now which = $10 per month so far, and obviously, it will be more cost-effective the longer we go. The diapers are still in great condition and will be used for more babies, so who knows how long we'll make that initial $200 last. I use the same detergent on the diapers that I use on everything we wash, so I don't have to buy anything extra. I use this jug of Charlie's Soap and it lasts forever.. like half a year at least.
Can you store a wet bag somewhere other than a basement?/Are they difficult to keep clean? Yes, but you might want to get a garbage can with a lid to store it in, just to prevent any smells taking over your house :) Our diapers come out of the wash really clean, but I do like to use Funk Rock once in awhile to deep clean and get rid of any lingering smell.
What do you guys know about cloth diapers that I don't know?
ps. Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law Audra, who loves to talk cloth diapers! This one's for you :)
10 comments:
Adorable pictures...and look how much she's grown! This is a topic I've been hoping you'd write on. I don't know a single person who has used cloth so this was super helpful...thanks!!
We had so many diapers as gifts and many freebies that I collected even before berkeley was born, so we just recently started to buy diapers (at 14 months). I had intended to do cloth and my sister gave me her set, which is covers with pre-folds. I'm sure the flip inserts keep baby much drier than the inserts I have. Anyhow, I got so spoiled with all my disposables that I can't bring myself to do cloth. Someone recently told me that they spend $15 a month for the special detergent. We spend $22ish on diapers and wipes a month. So my question for you is about monthly cost estimate. I always think maybe ill get some better inserts and do cloth with the next one.
@JohnandTeresa Wow, Teresa! That's awesome. We didn't get a single diaper as a gift. I love your question, so I'm going to write you back in the post!
I don't have any kiddos yet, but have several friends that use clothe diapers and they seem to work great not to mention saving money. Pretty sure I'll go clothe once I have kids :)
So helpful! We received an entire cloth set as a gift and I've just been too nervous about the laundry to try. This is enough motivation for me to try it out on Liam today!
here is MY question- could you keep your wet bag not in the basement? we don't have a basement/laundry is just in the little closet...so it would have to be there. that has always scared me away! and being able to keep them clean--you don't seem to have many issues but i always read about people having big problems! that & the fact that my mom used them WITH diaper pins. i grew up vowing to buy those awesome things...disposables. BUT i can be convinced otherwise (if we have more buns to diaper here)
We use flips too! We used them on my daughter and now on my son - so far the covers are holding up through baby #2. On your recommendation a long time ago I started using Charlie's soap. We bought the 1000 load container from Amazon and haven't used even half - and we bought it 9 months ago. I use it for ALL my laundry. Thanks for that!!
And I can't get over how little she was here and how cute!!
I thought $15/month seemed steep for detergent! And if that were the case, forget it! but this is encouraging. Thanks for sharing!
oh and I must add that most of the diaper gifts were grandma gifts :)
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