Our Cloth Diaper Journey

Hello friends!

So I’ve been trying to figure out how to best share our story and about cloth diapering, without writing an entire book for a blog post.

I landed on just sharing our story first, and then if you have any questions, I’d be happy to follow up with a more generic FAQ on cloth diapering and all the terms, different diapers, etc. that come with it.

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Our Cloth Diaper Story

I’m not really sure how I learned about cloth diapering, or if it was even on my radar, but several of the mamas in our small group were cloth diapering… and it sounded like something right up my alley.

My sweet friends Liz and Caylynn gave me an entire tutorial on it (even showed Daniel and I the different diapers and how you can set them up), answered all my Q’s, and were just great resources starting out.

Initially, I thought I wanted to do the duo covers with inserts system (more on this below). It’s the cheapest system, and you kinda can get the most bang for your buck (since inserts are affordable and you can reuse the covers a few times). So we mostly stocked up on prefolds, flats, a few hemp inserts, a few fitteds and then several Thirties duo inserts.

I also purchased a few fall themed Mama Koala diapers (because hello cute autumn patterns). And before Malakai was born, I purchased one pack of Nora’s Nursery pocket diapers, because the colors were super dreamy and (after I already had a stash of the duo covers) I realized that pocket diapers just sounded really appealing to me. Since I already had a stash, I thought I’d just get one set of pockets to try later on.

Anyways, prepped and washed everything before our sweet bundle arrived (more on our wash routine, down below).

Q U I C K • N O T E

I do want to say, I HATE doing regular laundry. Like least favorite house chore out there. But for some strange reason, I LOVE doing cloth diaper laundry.

I loved doing it before Malakai was born, after he was born, and even on year later… I love washing his diapers (and still hate doing regular laundry). Even stuffing his diapers and putting them away… It’s brings me joy (and I can’t say the same for my clothes). It’s weird, but it’s a thing.

Anyways, when Malakai was born, and we decided that the first few weeks we would just use disposables. I didn’t feel like being a first time mama, PP and trying to figure out how to get meconium poop and blood from the umbilical chord/belly button stub out of a diaper.

So maybe at 2-3 weeks (or whenever the lil belly button stub fell off) we started cloth diapering! We used prefolds folded with a snappi, and then a duo cover diaper. The system worked well for keeping liquids and blow outs in, but after a few weeks Malakai developed a really bad diaper rash. I think it was because there was just too much moisture directly on his sensitive skin.

We changed him literally every hour (sometimes more) for the first two months… but his diaper rash persisted and eventually got SO bad, that his skin started peeling… Yeah, it was REALLY bad.

Also around this time, we discovered that he had thrush… man, I don’t wish Thrush on any mama. Maybe ours was especially bad, but Malakai had a really bad few months of battling thrush, extreme diaper rash and a lot of really hard days and nights. So we went back to disposables.

In case you’re wondering, I don’t think the cloth diapers gave Malakai thrush. I’m pretty sure that the yeast grew from my not being diligent enough about changing out my breast pads (I had an oversupply and was constantly leaking and so it was constantly cold, dark and wet on my nipples)… now know better, but at the time didn’t know what to do or that that was even a thing.

During the 5 months we battled thrush, every once in awhile I would try cloth diapers again, just to see if we could switch back. However, every time, within a 24-48 hours, he would get a diaper rash… so back to disposable. Again, this was using the prefolds + duo system.

Eventually, we beat thrush (PTL) and went back to cloth diapering full time.

(so this tells me it was the thrush that was bothering him, and not the diapers, since we’ve been able to do cloth diapers full time and haven’t had any issues). 

I figured out that Malakai just has really sensitive skin, and the inserts + duo cover system just wasn’t working for us. So I started using the pocket diapers and WE. FELL. IN. LOVE!

We only had about 10 pockets, and I wanted to order another set so we could make it ~3 days of diapering (washing every two days, and then a day for drying).

I was thinking to myself how I wish there was a pocket diaper that had double gussets like the thirsties duo covers do (basically an extra seal so that poo doesnt leak out of the leg). Well, somehow randomly stumbled upon Simply Being cloth diapers on amazon, and found my wish came true!

I took a chance and ordered a pair… and they might just be my favorite cloth diapers yet!

I would probably solely have them, but I’m not a pattern person and I love the simplicity that Nora’s Nursery brings. I’ll also be curious to see if Malakai outgrows the Simply Being set… but so far, he still has PLENTY of room to grow (so we might just make it through potty training).

A N Y W A Y S . . . .

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Here’s our official setup

• 12 of the Simply Being pocket diapers (the “forest” bundle)
• 7 of the Nora’s Nursery pocket diapers (Pacific Neutrals)
• 10 of the Mama Koala pocket diapers (randomly ones I purchased from boutiques, and was recently gifted their Bumble Bee set)
• 10-15 of the Thirsties Duo Covers, Size 1 (Malakai’s sleeping so idk exactly, but we were gifted a tooon of these since I thought this is the system we would do solely). Now I just use these over regular diapers when we travel (which I highly recommend).
• All the above pockets come with inserts, so I just use those except for night time, we double stuff with a Thirsties Hemp Insert (I think we have 6?)
• We also have these Thirsties fitteds, that worked great in the beginning and likely would still be great if Malakai didn’t have such sensitive skin
• XL Gusset wet bag from this company (they’re worth every penny because the smell doesn’t leak through the bags!)
• I also have a Medium and a small from the same company, but I don’t use them as much. For day travels, I usually use the wetbags that came with the diaper bundles.

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Had I known what I know now, I would have built my stash differently… but I suppose that’s just part of the process.

Really, I would probably just solely have a stash of the Simply Being. I am seriously OBSESSED With them, and have recently bought these for baby shower gifts (off registries) for all my preggo friends that are doing cloth diapering. I even have a friend who’s a die hard duo cover + insert fan, and even SHE loves the Simply Being diapers. She used them on her 1 month old, so I’m pretty sure you could use them on a brand new babies (whereas Nora’s Nursery and I think most pocket brands you have to wait until babe is close to 10-12 pounds).They’re the beeeest.

AND, if you buy from their website (vs amazon) you can free shipping and 10% off. So really… It’s the best bang for your buck, and the best diaper IMO.

In the above photo, from left to right: you can see the double gusset of the Simply Being diapers. The middle photos shows a side-by-side of the Thirsties Duo Covers (that also have the double gusset) and then the Simply Being Pocket Diapers. The photo to the right just shows all the buttons on the front, which are there so you can adjust to the size diaper you need for baby at the time (these buttons are pretty standard for most cloth diapers, though companies do vary on how many buttons and the “sizing” ranges they have).  

I’ll be super curious to see if we can make it all the way to Malakai potty training in the Simply Being diapers. If so, then these will officially be my fave diapers, since they can truly go from birth-potty training (will report back). 

If you’re interested in trying cloth diapers, and you’re comfortable, I would buy a “pre-loved” stash that has a variety of different kinds, so you can figure out what you like and what system works for you and baby.

Again, I thought we would LOVE The prefolds + duo cover system, but it didn’t work well for Malakai. But maybe the next kid we’ll have more luck.

OH! And I do have these cloth diaper/reusable wipes, which I honestly just don’t use. We use disposable, mostly because we were initially gifted so many disposable wipes that I wanted to use them all, and then we just got into the routine of doing it.

It’s embarrassing, but I’ve been too lazy to take the like 5 seconds to figure out a system with the wipes (which honestly would probably be just wetting one with water before we go to the changing table).

I honestly don’t use a ton of wipes (we skip it if Malakai’s just had a wet diaper). And I’m just giving myself grace, and adding this to my bucket list because it is easier to use cloth diaper wipes because then you don’t have to throw the cloth diaper in a wetbag and the disposable wipe in the trash (fine at home at the changing table, a little more complicated when out and about).

Also, another quick little thing about why I love pockets... They’re super simple to store and carry whenever we’re out for the day (see the above photo in the basket)! Plus, if someone is changing your baby that isn’t super familiar with cloth diapers, it literally goes on like a regular diaper (just with button instead of adhesive straps).

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Washing Routine

I never had any major issues with washing, but it did take me awhile to figure out a system that worked best for us.

I initially started using Seventh Generation laundry detergent, because it’s a 1 on the Think Dirty app (the BEST app ever for checking toxins in everyday products).

While it did the job, the diapers still sometimes had a smell… and I just think it wasn’t giving the diapers THE most thorough cleaning. I’m still not sure, to be honest.

So I stumbled across the brand Rockin’ Green detergent from a cloth diaper thread, and decide to try that. AND WE LOVE IT!

I think we’re still on the first bag? Maybe the second. It’s lasted fooooorever, because you only use a small scoop (included). And it’s totally done the trick.

If the diapers are extra stinky, because I maybe went 3-4 days between washing or forgot one in the car or something, I’ll add a little splash of vinegar in the washing machine, and that seems to do the trick to get out the extra staaank.

As for drying: if I need diapers ASAP (which my stash is big enough now I don’t anymore) then I’ll dry and low for 30-45 minutes, and hang to dry.

Otherwise I just hang to dry (we have this and love it) for about a day. The hemp inserts (and fitteds when we used them) take the longest to dry.

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What about poop?

I feel like this needs it’s own section, because it’s definitely something I wondered and was skeptical of.

So if you’re breastfeeding, breastmilk is water soluble. So literally you can throw the poopy diaper in the washing machine, and it’ll do the job.

I know that sounds gross, but we did it and never had issues. You can “wash” your washing machine every now and again if you’d like, which probably should happen anyways (literally had no idea this was a thing and we’ve never done it… but our washing machine is like 10 years old? So maybe we should).

What about when baby starts eating solids?

This is honestly where I thought we’d give up cloth diapering… Cause this part didn’t sound fun.

Once baby starts eating solids, then the poop turns into “regular” poo and can no longer be thrown into the washing machine without disaster.

SO, you’ll need some form of sprayer for the toilet (this is the one we use) and a splatter shield (you can buy separately or save in this bundle). You don’t *have* to have the splatter shield, but it makes this a LOT easier and less messy. 

While this is honestly an extra step and probably the most “effort” in cloth diapering, *most* of the time Malakai’s poops I can literally fling in the toilet and flush. Only for the more messy poops do I need to spray it down, and he honestly isn’t a big pooper, so this isn’t a big deal for us.

Additionally, I purchase some flannel that I cut up and put on top of the diapers, and the poop doesn’t “stick” to the flannel as much as the diapers, so this makes messy clean ups WAY easier.

You could also totally thrift flannel, which is what I plan to do next time I’m out to have a few more strips.

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Final thoughts:

One last note about cloth diapering: you can’t use traditional creams (like desitin) for diaper rashes. However, you CAN use coconut oil, and we’ve been using that since the very beginning and love it! We have a little stash next to his changing table to make it easy. 

And I believe that wraps things up!

We absolutely LOVE cloth diapering. It’s weird how I could love something, but there’s just something simplistic and nostalgic about cloth diapering that just forces me to slow down and be present. Which is not something I ever thought I’d correlate with DIAPERS. 

If you have any questions about cloth diapering, our system or anything like that, please don’t hesitate to reach out! Just leave a comment (so other people can see and maybe have their Q’s answered) and I’ll get back to you as best as I can.

We’ve really loved cloth diapering, and plan to continue it through potty training. If we’re blessed to have more babies, then I hope to continue using this diapers on them.

Thanks for reading!

xo,

Rosalynne

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