Need help getting started with cloth diapers?

How many diapers do you really need to get started cloth diapering?

Want to save money or do you want the easiest possible method of cloth diapering?

What supplies can help you handle all those diapers once they're dirty?

Head on  over to A Simple Haven to read my guest post on "Getting Started with Cloth Diapers".

Be sure to check out my friend, Jenn's, entire series on cloth diapering. It's fabulous. She shares her story about jumping into cloth diapering late in the game and her financial break down of cloth vs. disposable. It's SO insightful!

Washing Your Cloth Diapers

Besides purchasing diapers there are a few supplies that have made my life easier.

I would recommend investing in the following:

• 1 large trash can
  There is nothing special about this plastic, 13 gallon trash can, and at $13.00 it's cheaper than a Diaper Genie.
• 2 pail liners
  It's nice to have two liners, so you have a clean liner in the pail while you're washing a load of diapers. $40.00
• 1 diaper sprayer
  I haven't needed this yet, but will when Cannon starts solids. $45.00
• 2 wet bags
  I use these for storing wet/dirty diapers when traveling. $24.00
• 24 cloth wipes
  I purchased Prince Lionheart wipes at BuyBuy Baby and have been thoroughly disappointed in them. They are all unraveling at the seams after only 2-3 washes - so DO NOT PURCHASE them. You could make your own cloth wipes out if you wish. $24.00
• laundry detergent
  I have used Rockin' Green Cloth Diaper Detergent and Nellie's All Natural Laundry Soda. So far both have cleaned my diapers great. The Rockin Green did smell a little bit better! I've also read that you can use a fragrance-free detergent like All Free-And-Clear.  $15.00
• Ikea Pressa Portable Hanging Dryer
  Since we don't have a yard or a porch for a clothes line, I hang these cool little hangers in our bath tub to dry our diapers. $10.00

All of the above supplies total about $170.

My wash/dry system for cloth diapers looks something like this:

1. Collect dirty diapers in trash can
2. Every two days remove pail liner with dirty diapers
3. Put clean liner in trash can
4. Put a few drops of Lavender oil on pail liner to freshen the room
5. Wash diapers, wipes & pail liner with one scoop of detergent on HOT
6. Rinse everything with NO detergent on cold
7. Hang diapers and pail liner to dry
8. Drench cloth wipes in a bowl of water mixed with a few drops of tea tree oil 
9. Squeeze/ring out excess tea tree oil water and fold/store wipes in plastic, empty Huggies wipes container

Some people wash/rinse their diapers three times (hot rinse, hot wash, cold rinse OR cold rinse, hot wash, cold rinse). However, since I have to pay for each load of laundry, I've opted to try the cheaper, two-cycle system and it seems to work great.  

You can also dry your prefolds and inserts in the dryer, but again, I've opted for the free, air-dry method.

Need some more resources? Check these links out:

• Keeper of the Home: Natural & Eco-Friendly Laundry Soap Reviews
• Diaper Sewing Divas
• Pooters Diapers: Getting Out Hard to Remove Diaper Stains
• Blissfully Domestic: DIY Tutorial: Make Your Own Diaper Sprayer

Miss the first posts in the "cloth diaper" series?

1. Why Both With Cloth Diapers
2. The Finances of Cloth Diapering
3. Why Are There So Many Different Types of Cloth Diapers?
4. Which Cloth Diapers Should You Buy

Which Cloth Diapers Should You Buy?

There are tons of factors and preferences to be considered when purchasing cloth diapers, so know that my opinion is not the end-all be-all and you might like something totally different. That's okay.

I had two criteria for cloth diapers:

1. snap closures (no velcro that could potentially wear out or gunk up)
2. one-size (adjustable to bigger sizes as Cannon grew)

I read that it would be better to try several different brands of cloth diapers because you never know which will fit your child. However all of the diapers I've tried have fit Cannon no problem. I get tired of sorting through all of the different inserts/covers/diapers, so I would recommend finding one diaper you like and sticking to that one style/brand.

All that said, this is what we started off with:

• Flip Covers & Inserts
• Thirsties Covers
• Fuzzi Bunz One- Size
• Baby Kangas
• 12 prefolds

Now, the younger your baby, the more diapers you will go through in a day. But, if I were to start cloth diapering all over again (assuming I'll start cloth diapers around 3-5 weeks old), below are the two options I'd consider and how many diapers I'd buy.

Easy Cloth Diaper System

If you can afford it get all-in-one diapers. They are the simplest to use!  Each diaper has an insert and that you can have stuffed and ready to use. You will need to wash the diapers after each use.

I would suggest buying 18-24 all-in-one, pocket, one-size diapers. That will last you 2-3 days.

• Bum Genius 4.0 Snaps (~$410 for 24 diapers, Cotton Babies sells 12 packs)
• Baby Kangas (~$450 for 24 diapers) 
• Fuzzi Bunz One-Size (~$480 for 24 diapers, Cotton Babies sells 12 packs)

Economical Cloth Diaper System

If price is a factor, the cheapest way to get started cloth diapering is to purchase covers and prefolds. You don't need as many covers because you can just hang them to dry in between uses (assuming there's no poop on them!).

• 6 Flip covers & 12 Flip Inserts (~$150)
• 12 prefolds ($12)

So, as you can see - you can get started in cloth diapers with relatively little out of pocket.

In my next post I'll talk about what to do once your diapers get dirty!

Need some more resources? Check these links out:

• The Diaper Jungle: Cloth Diaper Guide - Diapering with Cloth 101
• The Real Diaper Association
• 4 Little Men and Girly Twins: Cloth Diapering 101
• Young House Love: The Much Requested Cloth Diaper Post
• Cotton Babies

Miss the first posts in the "cloth diaper" series?

1. Why Both With Cloth Diapers
2. The Finances of Cloth Diapering
3. Why Are There So Many Different Types of Cloth Diapers?

Why Are There SO Many Different Types of Cloth Diapers?

Researching cloth diapers online is BEYOND overwhelming and sometimes even frustrating. I couldn't tell the differences between all-in-ones, pocket diapers, covers, prefolds, etc from pictures online.

If you are thinking about cloth diapers, I would suggest finding a friend who can show you the different kinds of cloth diapers in person or visit a cloth diaper store.

Diaper stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth area:

• The Changing Station - Cedar Hill
• Babies Bottoms & More - Farmers Branch
• Nappy Shoppe - Allen

I'll go over the diapers we use - hopefully my pictures will help.

I had two criteria for our cloth diapers.

1. I wanted one-size diapers. I didn't want have to buy different sizes as Cannon grew. With one-size diapers all I have to do is adjust the diapers (either using snaps or elastic) as he grows. This meant I could buy LESS diapers!
   
2. I also wanted diapers with snaps, NOT velcro. I read too many reviews online about velcro wearing out, pilling, gunking up, and just not working very well on cloth diapers.

With that in mind, we bought/received (from left to right): Flip Covers, FuzziBunz One-Size, and Baby Kangas.

All of these diapers can be purchased with inserts, but I also bought extra prefold diapers to use as stuffing.

Fromt left to right: prefold diaper, FLIP insert, and a generic insert.

There are two ways to use a prefold diaper.  You can do an Angel Wing Fold which I used alot with a Snappy when Cannon was little:

Or you can just do a simply Tri-Fold, which I use now that Cannon is bigger:

I use the inserts in the FLIP covers during the day, the prefolds in the FLIP covers at night (prefolds soak up more) and always use the inserts in the pocket diapers.

As you can see below, the FLIP cover and Baby Kanga diapers both adjust by snaps, which I LOVE!

The Fuzzi Bunz are adjustable by elastic inside the diaper which is a little hard to manipulate since it involves small buttons and little button holes in the elastic. The other thing that annoys me about the Fuzzi Bunz is that the loose/extra elastic often comes out in the wash and I'm forever stuffing it back into the diaper. I've left it hanging out in the picture below.

Okay, you're ready to buy some cloth diapers? Where do you start? I'm glad you asked. I'll give you my two cents on what you should purchase starting out in the next post.

Need some more resources? Check these links out:

• Diaper Pin: Cloth Diaper Reviews
• The Natural Mommy: Oh Swoon! New Diapers on the Market
• Cotton Babies: Diaper Swappers

Miss the first posts in the "cloth diaper" series?

1. Why Both With Cloth Diapers
2. The Finances of Cloth Diapering

The Finances of Cloth Diapering

We have a HUGE factor working against us when it comes to cloth diapering.

We live in an apartment with no washer/dryer hook ups. So, if we are going to do laundry we have to pay an arm and and leg to wash in the little laundry room downstairs or cart all of our dirty clothes to the laundromat. I thought for sure this would put an end to our cloth diapering adventure before it had even started.

Thankfully, I have smart friends and new blogging friends who walked me through the cloth diapering decision. Here are some of the questions I asked, the research I did, and the links I found most helpful while diving into all of this.

1. Since we lived in an apartment with no washer/dryer, would a cloth diapering service be an easier and cheaper way for us to cloth diaper?
   
   The short answer: NO!
   The services I found in Dallas were Green Baby Diaper Service and Bluebonnet Diaper Service.
   
   Diaper services cost about $75-$100 per month, or $1,000-$1,200 per year.
   
   I could use disposable diapers for about the same amount of money. And, since we've already determined that I'm not really that green, just cheap, this was not a good solution for us.
   
2. Is it even possible to cloth diaper in an apartment with no washer/drying hook ups?
   
   The short answer: Absolutely YES!
   Somehow I came across this great blog that addressed my very question: The Accidental Pharmacist: Cloth Diapering in an Apartment. She explains exactly how she cloth diapers without a washer/dryer, why it works for them and even the cost behind the process.
   
   
3. Would cloth diapering with no in-house washer/dryer be cost effective for us?
   
   The short answer: NOT REALLY
   I'll admit - I was totally overwhelmed at how to even calculate this. It almost made me throw my hands up and say HUGGIES!
   
   Enter my new blogging friend, Kacie, to the rescue. She has a great financial blog called Sense to Save and addressed my issues specifically here: "Is it cost-effective to cloth diaper if you have to pay per wash?"
   
   Factors to be considered:
   
1. the number of disposable diapers a child goes through before being potty trained
   Newborns use 10-12 diapers a day, while infants/toddlers use 6-8 diapers a day
   Average child uses 8 diapers a day before being potty training~3,000 in one year, so 6,000 diapers total if you potty train at two years old
   
2. cost of disposable diapers & wipes$45 for XL case of Pampers (252 diapers)
   $.1785 per diaper
   $1071 total for two years of Pampers diapers
   
   $12 for case of Huggies wipes (360 wipes)
   .0333 per wipe
   $292 total for two years of Huggies wipes (using ~12 wipes a day)
   
   
3. cost of purchasing cloth diapersTwo 12-pack Bum Genius 4.0 = $406.80
   (we'll talk about brands and types of cloth diapers coming up!)
   
   
4. number of loads and cost of laundry to wash cloth diapersOne load of diapers = $2.50 for one wash and one rinse
   Hang dry = FREE!
   Wash three times a week = $7.50 per week
   $780 total for two years of washing diapers

THE BOTTOM LINE: Disposable diapers will cost about $1,400 for two years, while cloth diapers will cost about $1,200 for two years.

I was ready to throw in the towel and stock up on Pampers, but then I realized that I'd start seeing the savings BIG time when we finally got our own washer/dryer AND when we used the same diapers on our second child. 

And there you have it. We decided. Even though it would be a little extra work to cloth diaper in our apartment we were going to try it out.

So, up next, what kind of diapers did we get, how do we wash them, and more!

Need some more resources? Check these links out:

• Tiny Tush: Save Money with Cloth Diapers
• The Natural Mommy: Reducing the Cost of Birthing and Babies - Part 2
• Baby Cost Calculator
• CostHelper

Miss the first posts in the "cloth diaper" series?

1. Why Both With Cloth Diapers

Why Bother with Cloth Diapers?

I've been putting off writing this post on cloth diapers for months simply because there's so much to say that I don't even know where to start.  So, if you'll bear with me, I'll start at the beginning and muddle my way through explaining the how, the why and the what's of our cloth diapering experience. I'll also pass along some of the fabulous resources I came across in my research.

First up, reasons we considered cloth diapers:

• Finances - This was my biggest draw to investigate cloth diaper. I'd heard it could save you a ton of money, especially when you get to reuse diapers on your second child.
  
• Environment - Let's be honest this was really a non-factor. I'm not an environmentalist. I try to recycle, but I really just like cloth diapers because they were budget-friendly, not because they avoided landfills. Although I have learned that disposables take 500 years to decompose in a landfill. Saving the environment and being green is just an added bonus that I can throw out if I want to look/sound cool.
  
• Health - Disposable diapers contain chemicals like polyacrylate gel (which can cause skin irritations), dioxin (a cancer-linked chemical), and tributyl tim (speculated to cause sterility in boys). Cloth diapers also cause fewer diaper rashes than disposable diapers. However, I know tons of people who have survive years in disposable diapers, so I wasn't sure how much weight to put in the "health risks" of "paper diapers."

Obviously, the biggest consideration for us was the cost/savings factor of cloth diapers, so that is what I'll address in the next post - what the financial breakdown looks like.

Need some more resources? Check these links out:

• Real Diaper Association: Why We Choose Cloth
• Simple Organic: 3 Great Reasons to Choose Cloth Diapers
• The Diaper Jungle: Why Use Cloth Diapers?
• Very Baby: An Apple A Day