The Power of Cloth

Since I found out I was pregnant with our daughter, I planned on cloth diapering. I not only wanted to cut down on waste, but I also wanted to save money. The plan was to use disposables for the first month and then slowly change over to cloth. I never thought I would actually have to use cloth, or cloth wipes for that matter. Our daughter is extremely sensitive to whatever dyes and fillers are in the disposable products. Thankfully cloth diapering has been a success for us. I understand cloth diapering isn't for everyone and there are many opinions about the subject. I just wanted to share our experience so far because we really like using cloth.

After about a month and a half of trial and error, here is what I have found works for us:

Prefolds and One Size Diaper Covers or Wool Soakers
I ended up having to buy newborn size covers because the size 1 Thirsties covers I had were too big for my tiny newborn. If the cover is too big around the legs and waist, it will leak and those newborn babies sometimes have tiny thighs so gaps happen where the gussets come together at the leg. I will be able to use my Thirsties covers when she gets a little bigger but for the time they were too bulky. We prefer using the diaper covers and a prefold with a snappi. We have about 24 prefolds. I get my prefolds from Imagine Baby Products. They are highly absorbent, not too bulky and are reasonably price.

I plan on converting some of our prefolds to contour diapers to make things even easier and to cut down on bulk when the warm weather hits. I also LOVE my two wool soakers. These are especially great for nighttime, providing maximum absorption. Wool is also naturally anti-microbial, breathable and is temperature regulating so baby stays cool in warmer temps. If wool continues to wow me, I may be tempted to switch to soakers exclusively.


Using Cloth Wipes and Making Our Own Wipe Solution
Hands down, cloth wipes have been a lifesaver. My baby girl developed a nasty rash that would never quite heal no matter what we did. I observed that the rash would instantly turn redder whenever I wiped her with the disposable wipes. She even started to blister. I tried a few different brands of wipes (including the ones for sensitive skin and the chlorine-free wipes) with no change. So I started using the cloth wipes I had on hand and made my own cloth wipes wash .This way I could wet half the wipe and dry her skin off with the other half. This system works great and I just throw the cloth wipes in wash with the cloth diapers.

Simplestead Wipes Solution Recipe
1/2 cup California Baby Bubble Bath (or Dr. Bronner's Castile Soap)
1/2 cup Baby Oil
2 cups Distilled Water
Spray Bottle

Simplestead baby still gets a rash here and there. She is so sensitive on her bottom. We love the California Baby Diaper Cream, it smells good, it's all natural and it's safe to use with cloth diapers. I also recently discovered that raw coconut oil also works wonders.


Washing and Drying
With 24 prefolds and cloth wipes, I do wash every other day. We have a top loader machine and do a rinse cycle then a hot wash with detergent. I sometimes add vinegar to the final rinse cycle to remove any build up. We also make our own detergent using this recipe. It's cheap and works like a champ.

 I found exclusively line drying made the diapers too rough, which irritates our baby's bottom, so I will touch them up in the dryer to make them soft. However, nothing beats the stain fighter power of the sun, plus line drying sanitizes the diapers.


We still have a few disposables around the house for traveling and in case we have to do wash. Since I do not have to spend as much on diapers, I can afford to buy the natural chlorine-free ones. They are a little more expensive but these are the only kind that don't make my daughter break out in a rash.. I like Earth's Best Chlorine-Free and Seventh Generation Free and Clear.

Cloth diapering gets a little addictive since there are so many options out there to choose from. But I am so glad we chose to cloth diaper our daughter and will cloth diaper our future children. The whole thing takes a little getting used to but once you get the hang of it and get your system down, it's not any harder than dealing  with disposables.

Please feel free to comment with your experiences with cloth or post any questions you may have if you are interesting in using cloth diapers. I hardly consider myself an expert, but I can point you to some good resources and pull from some personal experience.