Ever Deane
- Jul 14, 2018

How to start cloth diapering

I know I haven’t been doing this for a long time at all, but I did want to write down some encouragement to those of you who are thinking about incorporating cloth but haven’t dived in quite yet.

Some of my Charlie Banana Pocket Diapers ready to go. Check out their website www.charliebanana.com

Don’t put too much pressure on yourself.

My plan was to be a cloth mom almost right from the start but all that pressure wasn’t helpful, it just created guilt. I had three newborn cloth diapers (two Grovia and one Luludew AIO) that he would wear when I didn’t think he was going to poo (as I wasn’t ready to clean those up yet) but of course he did because it turns out that babies are unpredictable. I learned recently about the wonderful invention of bamboo liners and they are lifesavers! This brand is the second one I’ve tried and am loving them. They are natural, soft and help catch all the solids (much better than another brand I tried) so cleaning the cloth diaper is a breeze. You learn as you go so just take it easy and enjoy the ride.

Even one cloth diaper a day makes a difference.

I started with one or two a day and slowly got into a nice routine to incorporate more and more. Adding just one cloth diaper a day can save more than 1,000 disposables over three years; so any amount makes a difference. You could save almost 10,000 disposables in three years (almost $2000!!!) if you went more full time with cloth diapering, and that’s only one child’s waste.

Oliver still uses a disposable diaper overnight and that’s just my preference. I like knowing that the liquid is being wicked away from his skin and preventing redness and irritation. His diaper is always super full and heavy in the mornings, so when I see it getting lighter I may try a cloth diaper with extra inserts for overnight. My goal is to reduce my waste to just the wipes but I’m not there yet and that’s ok. I’m doing my best and I can be proud of that.

That is one baby’s waste guys! Whew! This gave me such a wake up call and provided me with some motivation to ditch as many disposables as I could. Pic: Modern Natural Baby in Ferndale, MI

Oliver at 4 weeks old with his newborn Luludew diaper.

Go as quickly or as slowly as you want.

I thought I would’ve had Oliver in cloth diapers after about a month or so of disposables but it took me six months to really find my feet. Oliver got reflux and colic and I was in survival mode until he settled at 3 months old and I do not feel guilty about doing disposables during that time. I was just trying to get through every hour before Daniel got home from work and I could take a break, have a shower or get some rest. It took me the next few months to find out what worked for us and start to build our stash.

Buy your stash AFTER baby arrives.

I would say buy one or two of each type (a pefold and reusable cover, an All-in-one (AIO) and a pocket diaper) before baby is born but don’t go all out and have 24+ diapers ready to go. You might not like the way the brand works on your baby’s body type, or you might not like the type of diaper that you now are stuck with. We don’t want to waste money here: Get the bulk of your stash AFTER baby arrives.

Cloth diapering is a way to make a huge contribution to the well-being of the Earth by reducing your waste as well as saving money.

Once Oliver grew out of his reflux and colic at 3 months old, I tried the prefolds and covers and was not a fan. Oliver was still such a heavy wetter at that point that I had to change him like every 30 minutes. Using the snap tie and having to fold each nappy was not my favorite so I decided to try One Size All-In-Ones (AIO) as I had liked his newborn Grovia ones. I didn’t like the two flaps that felt like they got in the way and made cleaning up the poos a little tricky. I finally found pocket diapers (and bamboo liners) and am in love. They have a lovely smooth surface for Ollie’s bum and are easier to clean than the others in my opinion. I don’t mind putting the inserts back in the ‘pouch’ after cleaning them at all, it takes two seconds.

I still used disposables and cloth together for the next 3 months while I bought a couple diapers a month to build up my stash. Oliver is now using cloth almost all the time, except when he goes to the childcare at my gym (he is enough trouble without having to ask the ladies to deal with possible blow-outs in the cloth but we will work on that) and one overnight diaper. He has gotten two really red bums in 3-4 months so I used disposables for a day or two to help clear up the redness.

I have a few brands that I like but the Charlie Banana One Size Pocket Diapers are definitely my favorite. They have an adjustable elastic bra-type strap for around the legs and it is genius. Oliver was on the first medium setting from 6-8 months and is on the first large setting now at 9 months. Their prints are so cute and very affordable, especially on sale (discounted price at checkout) or on Amazon. I reached out to their team to see if they wanted to collaborate with me on this post because I love their diapers so much and want to share them with all of you! They sent me three new and cute prints: Dinosaurs, Malibu and Pineapple. Thank you to the team at Charlie Banana! They are gorgeous as always. I have my eyes on the Soccer print and the Pencil Stripe next!

Charlie Banana Cloth diapers Left – Right: Dinosaurs, Malibu, Pineapple.

Charlie Banana Cloth Diaper: Pineapple, Dinosaurs, and Malibu.

Last but not least…

Have fun!

Seeing your little one in cute cloth prints is so much fun. I’m still working out how many diapers I need and what a good wash routine looks like but I’m just having fun as I go.

Get yourself a reusable diaper pail liner for at home and a dry wet bag for when you are out and about and you are set! I’m looking to buy another dry wet bag as I use ours for our wet cozzies (swimsuits) at the pool as well!