Cloth Diapering Pointers

Here is a little peek behind the scenes at our house (oh what glamorous and exciting lives we lead). Cloth diapers can be laying out in a sunny windowsill to dry, and a strange devil-may-care chihuahua might come prancing along…

… and decide to do a little birdwatching…

… followed by some leisurely lounging…

… right on top of the diapers. What a weirdo, right? But he’s our weirdo. (Cue the collective “aww.”)

And since one of the most common questions that we get has nothing to do with home improvement we figured we owed you folks an answer. It is consistently some iteration of “How are you liking cloth diapers? Is it harder now that Clara’s on solid food? Do they show any wear and tear? Have you purchased more? Do you still like that they are all in ones with snaps? Do they still fit since they are one size fits all?” So we thought we’d share a swift little update on that front. Oh and if you have general cloth diaper questions please check out this post first (along with the comments) since it can answer any basic questions (and then some).

As for the cloth dipes, we still enjoy them and use them fairly much all the time except when we are traveling (since we do not have access to a place to wash them). And we have not ordered a single additional cloth diaper or tried any other brand. Yup, for the last year we have stuck with the original 12 Bum Genius Elemental One Size All-In-Ones that we purchased over a year ago (more on them here). And they all still look mint and do not have any smell issues or staining (thanks to our diaper sprayer – more on that here and here). And also thanks to laying them out in the sun to dry from time to time, which bleaches out any stains and keeps them as white as Ryan Seacrest’s teeth.

Since we still use the same diapers that we got about a year ago you can imagine how much loot we have saved (we did some how-much-will-we-save-math back in this original diaper post). And since we are low-cost-os, that alone should explain our downright obsession with the whole cloth diapering thing. And for those wondering if the cost of washing cloth diapers compares to buying disposables, our Energy Star front loaders are estimated to cost $15 a year to run (assuming you do eight loads of laundry per week). And we likely only do 5, (so perhaps they cost $12 or $13 to run for a whole year?!). Which puts our washing costs at about a dollar a month (and includes all the other laundry we do besides diapers). Fairly sweet.

For anyone who worries that it is some sort of intense 1900’s hardship, cloth diapers have come a looong way since the safety pin days. We honestly expected them to be a lot harder (to take more time, to be more annoying to put on, to somehow be inferior to diposables, etc) but it is a fairly plain process (detailed here) that is fully second nature to us by now. We have even taught the grandparents how to do it. Plus it truly seems to agree with Clara (she has far fewer blowouts and issues with diaper rash than she does when we travel with disposables). So that is the icing on the cake. Well, that and the cute colors they come in (and the brought in softness thanks to fabric instead of plastic).

As for the whole solid food thing, we both agree that there is a definite adjustment that occurs during that time, but it has much more to do with your nose than the whole act of cloth diapering (stuff in fact gets stinky, but that happens no matter what kind of diapers you use). Simply like any other parent of a kid who has began solids can attest, we had to work on the gag reflex and the whole hold-your-breath-while-you-change-them approach, but I think that is fairly universal with disposables as well. And in some ways cloth got easier with solid stuff because as gross as this sounds, you can shake out the diaper into the toilet and the “stuff” rolls out instead of needing to be sprayed out (like the liquidy baby-poo that preceded solid foods, but that is not too bad because it smells like buttered popcorn – at least Clara’s consistently did). Although we still give the diaper a shot of water even after we roll things off – simply to be on the safe side (we think that is why ours still look so good, we are generous with the diaper sprayer and we enjoy setting them out in the sun to bleach them back to spotlessness).

Hmm, perhaps I need a little disclaimer not to eat while you read this post. Or not to read this post while you eat. Oh well, I hope you figured out where this might go when you read “cloth diaper update” so you do not have a mouth full of oatmeal or something.

As for if we are still loving the all-in-one with snaps choice (as opposed to cloth diapers with separate inserts or liners and velcro tabs) we are quite glad. We have heard that snaps tend to last longer than velcro tabs (which can wear out in the wash) and so far ours are all in strong condition (not one bad snap of the bunch after plenty and plenty of washing). We also do not have any issues with loss of elasticity or absorption. And as for the decision to go with all-in-ones over separate inserts, we simply thought stuffing diapers sounded like an extra step, so we appreciate the simplicity of the all-in-one feature. About the fit, although Clara has gone from a compact bean to a much bigger baby slash soon-to-be-toddler (sniffle) they still fit well and we do not have any leaking issues. We simply adjust the snaps from time to time to make the diaper larger to accommodate our growing girl.

As for detergent, we still use and enjoy Charlie’s Soap (and Seventh Generation Free & Clear whenever we run out). Both work well for our front loaders (there is a lot more on washing and caring for cloth diapers here in the original post by the way). And The Remarkable Clara is now sleeping 12-13 hours straight in one diaper (we do not wake her up to change her or use extra inserts and we do not have any issues with leaks or rashes). I am sure every baby is distinct, but the whole cloth diaper thing certainly works for us. And we know it is one of those fully personal parent-how-you’d-like-to decisions, so we are simply sharing our experience when it comes to the whole thing. We are not anti-disposable by any means (tons of our family and friends opted to go that route because it worked best for their household and we still rely on disposables whenever we travel). So consider yourselves updated. And let me know if you hear of any circus acts involving walking over a pile of diapers. Burger would be all over that.

Psst- Check out the original cloth diapering post here for tons (and tons) of info about how we chose/wash/care for/adjusted to cloth diapers.

Pssssst- We announced this week’s giveaway winner. Click here to see if it is you.