And now for a post that’s a bit more about family life than pure home improvement. When people ask what question we get most often here at YHL, you might expect it to be about paint or demolition. Instead, hands down, it’s some variation of this:
How do you like cloth diapers? How many do you have? What brand? Do they have liners or inserts? Do they work? Does Clara like them? Are they difficult? Do you regret switching? Is it annoying to wash them? Do they actually get clean? Do you ever use disposables? How long will they last? Are they bulky? What do you do when you run errands? How do you wash them? What colors did you buy? How do you store dirty ones? Does Clara have a lot of blowouts or diaper rash?
Who knew cloth diapers would be such a hot topic? We’ve gotten so many questions that we decided to write a fairly comprehensive post to answer them all. Fair warning: you will read the word poop. If you’re not into baby bodily functions, skip this and check back for house content tomorrow.
After researching and talking with friends and family who use cloth, we chose BumGenius Elemental One-Size All-In-Ones — the organic versions with snaps instead of velcro. Snaps tend to hold up better through many wash cycles, and the all-in-one style avoids dealing with separate inserts. We liked the simplicity: one piece to snap on and throw in the wash. The one-size design adjusts as Clara grows, which helps keep costs down and should work for future children.
We purchased a dozen to start. So far 12 has been enough, though many parents aim for 18 for extra coverage. We may add more later, but we’ve managed fine with twelve. As for diaper duty, John ends up changing more than I do — he volunteered since I nurse often — which has been a huge help and kind of adorable. Clara sometimes pees on him, and he takes it in stride.
Washing hasn’t been a chore. With a baby, you’re already doing laundry, so we run a big diaper load roughly every day and a half. We expected cloth to be way harder than disposables, but the transition was surprisingly easy — partly because Clara didn’t fit into cloth until about nine weeks, so we had time to prepare. She seems comfortable in cloth, sleeps longer at night, and we’ve seen fewer blowouts and no diaper rash since switching.
We chose cheerful, gender-neutral colors: three clementine (orange), three grasshopper (green), three twilight (light blue), and three butternut (yellow). They’re cute and practical for future children. The only time we use disposables now is for overnight travel, when washing on the road is inconvenient.
Cloth diapers are very cost-effective. Our 12-pack cost roughly $265, and that investment covers the rest of Clara’s diapering days and should work for future babies. By contrast, after nine weeks of disposable use at the start we had already spent about $180. Over two years that could have added up to thousands of dollars. We also like that cloth reduces landfill waste. In hindsight, we might have bought a few newborn-sized cloth diapers: the one-size versions were a bit loose on very small newborns, and we used Seventh Generation disposables for Clara’s first nine weeks as a result.
Our nursery setup includes two pails: a larger pail for diapers and a smaller one for wipes. We rinse soiled diapers with a diaper sprayer and then place heavily soiled ones in the larger pail; wet-only diapers go straight in without spraying. Wipes go in the small pail for disposal. We line both pails with recycled plastic bags. The pails hang on the side of the dresser so they’re easy to reach, and we added weatherstripping to the bottom edges to prevent scratches.
We don’t have odor problems thanks to lids and regular washing; once solids are introduced we’ll monitor things, but family friends who use the same pail method haven’t had major issues. Following BumGenius recommendations, we wash diapers every other day. Our routine is to wash 11 at once while Clara wears the 12th, so we’re not running tiny loads.
We currently use Charlie’s Soap laundry powder, which is gentle on cloth and helps diapers last longer. Our wash cycle is a warm, heavy-duty setting; we sometimes machine dry and sometimes line-dry in the sun. A cold pre-rinse can help, but we haven’t needed it because we prespray solids before laundering.
Occasionally a diaper will come out of the wash with a faint orange tint from breastfeeding-related staining. It’s not a cleanliness issue — the diaper is clean — but the tint happens with organic cotton. Laying the slightly damp diaper in direct sun naturally bleaches the stain away in a few hours, which is a simple and satisfying fix.
On the go, cloth is convenient for day trips and errands. We seal a dirty diaper in a plastic bag and rinse it at home. We plan to upgrade to reusable zippered wet bags for outings to contain moisture and odors more effectively, but for now we reuse grocery bags when needed.
About bulkiness: cloth is slightly bulkier than disposables, but not excessively so. Many newborn outfits still fit over them, and Clara is nearly three months old and wears plenty of regular clothes over her cloth diapers.
In short: we love cloth. They haven’t been harder than disposables, they save money long-term, they’ve reduced blowouts and diaper rash for Clara, and they’re eco-friendly. That said, every family must choose what works best for them. We aren’t against disposables—many friends prefer them—and we still use them when traveling. Parenting is personal, and the right diaper solution is whatever fits your household.
UPDATE: We switched from diaper bins to wet bags some time ago because wet bags are easy to toss in the laundry with the diapers and help keep things fresh. We still use the same 12 cloth diapers we purchased over a year ago; they look great, perform well, and remain odor-free. Best purchase we made.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Our cloth diapers are still holding up well two years later.