The Essentials and Luxuries for Cloth Diapering

I love cloth diapers! I've said this to so many people, and recently I was asked, "Why?  What is it that you like so much?" Uhhhh... what's NOT to like?!?  But seriously, I had trouble thinking of an answer on the spot, so I went home and thought of THREE.  THIS girl will not be caught off guard again!

Three reasons why I love cloth diapering
1. I'm definitely an environment conscious person, so it always brings me joy when less trash goes into land fields.
2. I'm not huge on chemicals and such, so it's a big plus in my book that there are no chemicals touching my baby's tushy when she is wearing cloth.
3. I think cloth diapers are so freaking cute!  There are so many choices compared to a plain disposable diaper!

My sweet baby's butt, about 4 months old along with the rest of her body.

It is safe to say that when I first started cloth diapering my reasoning was 70% money related.  My husband and I were dirt poor, and I wanted to make costs as low as possible, so I decided to do cloth diapers.  My mom had done cloth with me when I was a baby, so I used my mother as a guide when I bought my things.  Not the greatest move since cloth diapers have come such a long way in twenty-five years, but it did save me a crazy amount of money, and I learned what the essentials and luxuries are to cloth diapering.

I have compiled a short list of what I have found to be the essentials and luxuries to cloth diapering. TUR-DA!

The Essentials and Luxuries

• Somewhere to clean off poop diapers- It should be known that breast milk poop is water sulable, so you can literally toss a 100% breast milk fed baby's poop in the washer and you will see no trace of the poop after the diaper is washed.  I've tried it.  Once the baby is eating other things besides breast milk, or is a formula fed baby, you need to clean off the diaper with water.  The best place to do this is in the toilet.  This can get nasty for obvious reasons, and if your baby is older she might flush the toilet with a diaper still in it.  Happened.  Luxury-  disposable liners, diaper sprayer  

• Somewhere to store the soiled and wet diapers- As I mentioned before, we had nilch money when we had our first baby, so I simply used a free plastic sack to store my diapers.  This is not ideal because the smell seeps through more that it would with a luxury cloth diaper item.  A friend of mine simple threw the used cloth diapers directly in the wash and then washed the cloth diapers each night. Luxury- wet pail, wet bag  

• Wipes- I used to make my own baby wipes with paper towels, but you can also buy them, or use cloth.

• Cloth diaper safe detergent- Here is a pretty comprehensive chart for choosing a detergent.  Just remember, the most expensive is not always the best.  I use Allen's.

• Cloth diaper safe rash healer- There are a lot of different rash healers, but I have always had good luck with coconut oil.

• Washing Machine-  If you don't have a washing machine, you can still cloth diaper using a laundry mat or a cloth diaper service, but your costs will go up significantly.

• Somewhere to dry your diapers (or just the covers)- Drying a cloth diaper regularly will cause the elastic to loose its elasticity.  If you want the elastic on your diapers to last for a while it is a good idea to air dry them. I used to hang my diapers on a cloths line in the summer and all over the laundry room in the winter. Luxury- drying rack 

• Snappis-  Snappis are an awesome invention that takes the place of pins.  You only need Snappis if you are using prefolds or fitteds. 

• Cloth diapers- Obviously.  Many people will tell you that you have to have 20-30 diapers to start out.  I survived with 12.  I did have to wash them everyday, which was exhausting at times.  I have 22 diapers now and I can wash them every other day or every three days.  Your choices for cloth diapers include the following: perfolds with covers, fitteds with covers, pockets, all-in-ones, and the fairly new all-in-twos. A Simple Mom gives a nice description of the first four I mentioned.  Luxury- 20+ diapers  

HUGE super cute fluffy butt!

Stay tuned for more tips on cloth diapering!

-Amber