Having a little one in diapers can be extremely expensive, especially if you’re using disposables. Cloth diapers, though, can be pretty intimidating when you first look into it because there are so many options. I’m not going to try to walk you through all the options with cloth diapering, I’ll just tell you what works for my family, and answer some of the questions we get all the time. If you want an exhaustive review of the options, take a look at http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/. They have a very nice description of each option, and were very helpful when I was first starting out.
We use Thirsties Duo Wraps (http://www.nickisdiapers.com/thirsties-duo-wrap-diaper-covers.html) and prefold diapers (http://www.nickisdiapers.com/imagine-indian-prefolds.html). The basic idea is that the prefold diaper is just absorbent material, while the Duo Wrap over top makes it waterproof.
When baby was newborn, we also used snappies (http://www.greenmountaindiapers.com/snappi.htm) to help hold the prefold in place, but now that he’s a bit older the diaper cover is tight enough that it holds the prefold where it’s supposed to be. For us, this option provides the best balance of convenience and thrift.
So how does this work? You take your prefold and fold it in any of a few fold options, all of which are quite easy to learn. When baby was newborn, we would use the angelwing fold (http://www.dy-dee.com/html/basic_angel_wing.html). It looks more complicated in the drawings than it really is… just take a doll before your baby comes and try it out on the doll. Once you get used to it, which takes about two or three times in real life, it will be easy. Once the prefold was in position, I’d snappy it into place. A snappy is basically the modern alternative to pinning, and doesn’t involve anything sharp near your precious little one. It holds things quite securely, so you don’t need to buy the more expensive fitted diapers. Once the prefold is in snappied or just held into place, you put the Thirsties wrap over top which makes it waterproof, keeping the pee in and off baby’s clothes. As baby got older, we started just folding the diaper into thirds and fastening the Duo Wrap over top, skipping the snappie and the more complicated folding.
Why use prefolds and wraps rather than All in One or Pocket systems? They look more convenient. It’s cheaper. Every time your baby wets the AIO or pocket diaper, the entire diaper (cover and absorbent part) has to be changed out. Since the expensive part of the system is the cover, having to buy enough to see you through a few days of diaper changes when you have to change it out with every change is quite expensive. In contrast, the prefold and wrap option requires that you change the wrap only when it gets messy… which happens only once every day or two.
So how many prefolds and wraps do you need? I have 24 newborn size prefolds (which I recommend if you’ll be cloth diapering your newborn) and 36 infant size prefolds, which are what I use now that baby is a bit older. Sometimes I still use the newborn size prefolds as a doubler, which buys me extra absorbency at night. I have four wraps in each size, which has been plenty for us. In comparison, if most of my friends with pocket diapers or AIOs need 36 diaper/cover combos, each of which is more expensive than the wraps.
Do you have a diaper service? No. We just do it in the washing machine and dryer. It’s a lot cheaper that way and not inconvenient.
Tell me about laundry. I was reading the internet and there are all these descriptions of the crazy lengths you have to go through to get diapers clean. Like so many things on the Internet, the people discussing these topics are the people who are having problems. Here’s my routine. When baby wets a diaper, we put it in an old plastic bucket with a lid (like these: http://www.homedepot.com/buy/paint/paint-accessories-apparel/homer-bucket/5-gallon-orange-homer-bucket-55315.html). If he poops the diaper, we spray it off in the toilet before putting it in the bucket, using this potty sprayer (http://www.pottypail.com/learn.php). Spraying is quick and easy. It sounds like it might be gross, but it’s really not bad.
Anyway, when you’re ready to do laundry you wash it on hot with a regular cycle. We use Nellie’s All Natural laundry detergent for our diapers, which doesn’t leave a residue (http://www.amazon.com/Nellies-NLS-100T-Natural-Laundry-soda/dp/B001GODIEE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1327353612&sr=8-2). It looks expensive, but we’ve done a couple hundred loads and really have only gone through about half the tin. Then we either line dry or dryer dry the lot, depending on my mood and willingness to spend 1.25 on the dryer.
That’s it. It’s just a couple extra loads a week!
What if the power goes out? When the hurricane came through, we devoted some serious thought to this. As an experiment, I did a couple of loads by hand in the bathtub. While I wouldn’t recommend this for routine use, it worked quite well. Line drying is always convenient and thrifty, but you have to plan for the extra diapers you’ll need to get yourself through while the bulk of your diapers are on the line.
What about blowouts? I’ve heard cloth diapers are more messy than disposables. Totally not true in my experience, or in the experience of any of my mommy friends. These aren’t the cloth diapers from when you and me were kids – the technology has improved dramatically
Do you have any questions? Just post below and I’ll happily try to answer.
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