How we cloth diaper

We haven't always used cloth diapers. Actually 9 years ago if someone had suggested it I probably would have thought it was the most ridiculous idea ever. But times change, I change and this works for us now. The main reason why we switched is because it saves money, and then environmental and the chemicals in disposables worry me. 

We have spent a pile of money on disposable diapers and I strongly believe that living smart and being thrifty is the way to go. We have a family of 6 and I'm a SAHM And it's just laundry, if you can do laundry, you can cloth diaper. 

A few questions I have been asked by friends/family:  Do my babies smell because of the diapers?  They don't. I bathe them regularly and I wash our diapers well. If the diapers don't smell like roses they probably need to be stripped so I won't put them on our girl.

I have also been asked about my water and electricity bill. There has been about a $7 increase  in the bills all together. Nothing substantial. We line dry in the late spring/summer/early fall. 

What about all that poop? Well a breast fed baby, not on any solids... Just throw the diapers in the wash. Trust me, washes away and smells like roses. I promise:) but once they are on solids or they are popping often, put biodegradable liners in the diapers. It catches the poop so I just plop it in the toilet and add to my diaper pail. 

How many diapers do you need? This is probably a personal preference. I think about 25 would be the minimum number for one child.  Really, can you ever have too many of those cute prints? I think not. I do diaper laundry every other day. And never seem to run out. 

Some other cloth diaper favorites we use:

Some all natural bum cream. Since you can't use the regular creams on the diapers.

I really like the softness of these diapers. Although it took me awhile to get used to the big bum and putting the babes in bigger clothes to accommodate for their big bums. 

 

We use a combination of liners for our diapers. Bamboo and microfibre. The bamboo has a higher absorbency but it takes longer to soak in and the microfibre has less absorbency but soaks in quicker. I pair them with the microfibre on top and the bamboo on the bottom and find we don't leak. 

 I do have an order in on some new microfibre/terry cloth inserts to try from applecheeks but I have no idea right now how they will work.

We use a PUL wet bag and cloth wipes. I usually just use a spray bottle with water to wet the cloth. I use disposable wipes while out usually. 

You do have to change baby more often while wearing cloth diapers but I never really liked my kids sitting in their pee so I did change them very often even when I did use disposables. I have never found it to be a nusance yet. I can imagine long car rides or going away may be an issue but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. Even though my baby making days are done, we will see through cloth diapering until they are all potty trained. Maddy is still in diapers and Ollie is potty training and wears diapers for night time and quiet time. Seriously  we have been in a constant state of potty training since September. Another post for another day!

If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them. If you are not 

Into cloth diapering that is totally okay too.

Happy Friday Friends!