Top 10: Tips for Using Cloth Diapers

In my very first installment of my Versus Series, on this here blog, I put Cloth & Disposable Diapers head to head.  They are still duking it out.  I listed some pros and cons of each and then give my 2 cents at the end in My Take.  And of course because I USE cloth diapers my take is that “once you go cloth you doth not go back”.  Haha I tried to rhyme and it fell on it’s face!

Once you dive feet first into the cloth diaper world, you find out some tips that are useful to know.  So here they are in fun list form:

Tips for Using Cloth Diapers

1. Do your research:  We found a local seller of cloth diapers that let us see the diapers up close and personal.  She explained each different kind and helped us narrow down the type that we would like to go with.  We did this BEFORE baby entered the world.  I also searched the internet for helpful websites that explained prefolds, all in one’s, etc. etc.
2. Buy a trial pack. When our baby arrived we called our seller up and told her his weight and that we were ready for our trial pack.  We chose to go with an All-in-2 diaper (shell and insert combo), so the trial pack had about 4-5 All-in-2′s in various brands.  That way we could try them and find the one that fit our baby best.
3. Give it time. We didn’t start putting the trial pack diapers on our baby boy until he was about 6 weeks or so and gave it about 6 weeks to decide which brand to go with.  Newborns are scrawny and so are their legs, so early on it is very hard to tell which diaper will fit your baby until their legs chub up a bit!
4. Buy diapers with snaps. Velcro is easier, but wears down quickly in the wash (especially when washed daily).  We have gotten used to snaps and the diapers will last longer.
5. Use regular store bought wipes. Some people who use cloth choose to go natural with the wipes as well and will use washclothes and a sprayer of some sort of butt cleaning solution.  We decided to make it easier on ourselves and just use store bought wipes.  Later down the road when we got used to the cloth diapers we could decide if we wanted to try washcloths or not.  Hint: We still use store wipes!
6. Buy a diaper sprayer: So the gross part comes next…..somehow you have to get the poo from eating all those peas and sweet potatoes off of the diaper so you can wash it right?  Enter the sprayer.  We purchased the bumGenius Diaper Sprayer and love it.  Some websites say that if your baby is exclusively breast fed you don’t even have to wash it off…but ewwww, I couldn’t do that.  The sprayer attaches right to your toilet and sprays the poo away.
7. Get a Wet Bag: A wet bag is a bag that is waterproof and holds all that wonderful smell and wetness inside.  Seriously we don’t smell the stinkyness as long as the bag is closed.  It hangs in our guest bathroom shower right by the toilet with the sprayer.  We also use the wet bag when we go out and need to change his diaper.  We like the Kanga Care Wet Bag.  After your kids are potty trained it makes a nice swimsuit bag!  Click here for other tools essential to cloth diapering!
8. Find a routine for washing: If I was to complain about anything it would probably be the washing part.  BUT once you get into a routine it’s not that big of a deal.  I wash them every day in the morning with an extra rinse and a hot dry cycle.  It is just part of my day and really doesn’t take that much time.
9. Air dry the covers. If you purchase the All-in-2′s there is a cover and an insert.  The covers have elastic and last much longer if you don’t dry them in the dryer. I hang them on my pretty laundry room hanger.  Easy peasy.
10. Be ok with using disposables sometimes: As your baby grows their ahem “output” grows along with them.  It depends on the baby, but if you have a heavy wetter combined with a stomach sleeper there could be some leaks happening at night.  At about 6 months we put disposables on him at night.

There you go!  Click here to see my pros and cons for using cloth diapers, and let me know what you think.  Any cloth mommies out there that have tips?  Send them my way  Take a gander at my previous Top 10′s: Things I do at nap time and my Bloggy to do’s.  This is linked to Top Ten Tuesday