Your first post is about diapers?! wtfmatey?! Yes, CLOTH DIAPERS!
I have what seems like a bajillion new mom and mom-to-be friend’s right now, (when one of us get’s the baby fever, we all get the baby fever), and I have been asked tons of questions on cloth diapering as I am a huge advocate and not shy about sharing it.
So yes, my first post about cloth diapering; how to get started and everything you need to know.
Think your baby would be this comfortable on a pile of disposable diapers? Nope.
When I first started doing some research on cloth diapering I found it incredibly confusing. All the different kinds of diapers, different materials, special washing instructions and detergents? This made my head spin, not to mention getting started was EXPENSIVE! But, despite all of my initial confusion, they were incredibly and surprisingly easy to get the hang of.
First thing we did was ask around for some information on a good place to find cloth diapers, locally or at least close to local, and we were recommended a shop called Babes in Arms in Calgary. A little difficult to find as it’s a teeny tiny shop inside of Mayfair Place, but found it nonetheless after a half an hour of driving in circles and I waddled my 6 1/2 month pregnant self into the store.
Inside view of the Babes in Arms store in Calgary
For being such a small shop, they had a great selection of diapers and all other baby goodies, and the girl working at the time was really informative. After literally 2 hours of humming and hawing we finally decided on 8 Apple Cheeks brand covers (one size fits all), and a handful of Bum Genius brand inserts. The Apple Cheek diapers came to $25.00 a piece, and the inserts came in packs of 3 for $12.00 (thick, stay dry inserts) and $8.00 (thinner inserts), we got a few of each kind. The total? Around $250.00 before tax. This understandably made myself and my fiance puke in our mouths a little, but we knew we were making the right decision for us. We also were able to save a little bit of money by checking out their consignment section and getting an extra diaper from there for half the
price!
A one-size fits all cloth diaper in a super cute cherry red color. (I got two!)Not only are these diapers EXTREMELY cute, coming in a variety of different colors, they are hella soft and what I’d assume much more comfortable to wear than plastic disposables. Plus, being one size fits all, they’ll fit her well into her toddler years! What disposables do you know that do that?! And when it came to start using them, it was a CINCH! You can actually go to the Apple Cheeks website and they have video tutorials on how to use them!
THE COLORS!!!
There are a few different methods on how to use them. The envelope method (insert stuffed into the inside pocket of the diaper), and the cover method (insert on top). We started off with the envelope method, and after a week of doing this and realizing our baby girl is a monster pee-er, peeing through every single one, we decided to combine both methods. I use the envelope method by placing a thick insert (Bum Genius) inside the envelope of the diaper, and placing the thin insert on top for double protection. It’s a rarity if she ever pees through them now.
A closeup to show the texture of the diaper inserts
There are literally a mind blowing amount of different brands in cloth diapers, (not to mention if you REALLY wanna hippy out you can make your own!) and it can be hard deciding on which kind is the best for you and baby. We chose Apple Cheeks because of the one size fits all system, the snap enclosures (some diapers have velcro, snaps provide a more secure fit for when baby gets grabby), the micro-fleece lining absorbs wetness while keeping baby’s bum dry preventing diaper rash, and the option of the inside pocket (giving us two uses out of one diaper instead of one, and the option of using two different methods) was great.
All our dirty diapers go inside these handy Bummis brand wet bags. Keeps any mess and smell at bay. When I do a wash, I throw the bag right in with the diapers.
The only thing I would have done differently? I would have gotten MORE covers and inserts. This understandably doesn’t work for everyone as the initial cost is expensive, but get as many as you can afford when starting out. The amount we have now has worked fine, but has me doing a wash every second day. But, I’m positive the diapers have already paid for themselves by now. And although I wash them frequently, washing them is no less convenient than throwing out a disposable. Plus, unlike disposables, my house doesn’t smell like CRAP! Despite all your diaper genies and whats-it-called’s, a wet bag has kept all the smell at bay, plus they were cheap!
Washing is easy peasy. I use unscented, dye-free detergent. Wash cold on a “quick cycle”, and then wash hot on a “normal” cycle. Using approx 1/8 (or less!) of a cup at a time (washing your own clothes uses double the amount of detergent!) Leave out to dry or tumble on low heat, NEVER use fabric softener of any kind.
OTHER TIDBITS:
-Depending on degree of wetness, you can get TWO uses out of one diaper! If my baby has had a small pee, often it will only wet the top insert, leaving the rest of the cover dry. I just throw the wet insert in the wet bag and put the cover back on her bum!
-YOUR HOUSE WON’T SMELL LIKE POOP
-You won’t have to deal with an enormous, unnecessary amount of waste. We used disposables for the first 1-2 weeks of her life, and the amount of garbages we had to change was INSANE. (From the Apple Cheeks website: It is estimated that we throw out 600 million throwaway diapers every year in Quebec alone. That’s the equivalent of 6000 garbage trucks JUST for diapers!! In Canada we throw out 4 million diapers PER DAY.)
-YOU CAN USE THEM FOR MORE THAN ONE CHILD! Planning to have more babes? You can use them for future children! (providing you care for the diapers well).
-Worried about poop going into your washing machine? Fun fact, baby poop is runny. Especially breast fed baby poop. Nothing get’s left behind. Stains? Don’t use stain remover, leave them out in the sun! It will naturally lighten them AND dry them. The power of the sun, as if you didn’t feel like a hippy enough just for reading this blog post right?
-NO DIAPER RASH! In fact, any cloth diapering mom I know says the only time they’ve ever seen diaper rash on their baby is when they briefly put them in disposables while their baby was being looked after by another person.
-Some cities have diaper washing services, check your yellowpages or do some online searching to see if yours does
These are just a blip in the incredibly vast amount of positives for using cloth diapers.If you have anything to add to this from personal experiences or any questions don’t hesitate to comment or message me!
For more information, benefits, and everything else you need to know, check out these websites:
