Why do we cloth diaper our children? Besides the environmental benefits which sometimes are debated but it truly is more environmental than disposables, there is enormous cost savings! Don't believe me? Do the math. We purchased our bumGenius All in One diapers prior to having our first child. They say the average child goes through 8-10 diapers a day. Lets say 8 to be conservative. The average child who wears disposables potty trains at 2 years old. 365 days times 2 years time 8 diapers a day times $0.23 per diaper (per Amazon.com). This equals $1,343.20. This is a very conservative estimate!! So we decided to purchase 30 diapers to get us through 4 days at a time before we have to wash them. The total you would pay at Cotton Babies today is $519.00 for the all in one diapers. This is with a special that goes through Aug 31st of buy 5 and get one free so you will actually get 36 diapers. We also purchased the diaper sprayer for the toilet to help get the poop off before they are washed for $44. So overall, as you can see this is still way less then what you pay for 2 years of disposables and that is not even factoring in that we can use them for our second child! Double cost savings. Also, I highly recommend that if you do use disposals you pick a more environmentally and child friendly brand like Earths Best, Seventh Generation (available at Whole Foods or Babies R Us) or Tushies. This ensures that you are not using some of the harmful products that are in conventional diapers. Unfortunately, these diapers are even more expensive so if you use cloth then you will really be saving money!
How we use cloth: Ok, so now you have them and what do you do.
We like to separate our diapers in drawers. A drawer for the insert, one for the outer layer and one for the wipes. This is just because my changing table has these drawers which make it easy. It would not be difficult to just use a tub or one drawer and put them all in it. If you have the all-in-one diapers you should fold the insert and snap it so it becomes the smallest size it can. You then snap the outer diaper into the snaps that make it the smallest size. Insert the thick end of the insert into the outer diaper first so the pee is caught in the thick section of the insert, especially if you have a boy! After this it is easy as putting on a disposable. Velcro or snap the sides into place. As your child grows you unsnap the inserts and outer layers to get bigger.
When it is time for a cleaning, you just need to wet the cotton wipes and clean the bottom. The next step is the dirty business, but worth it. We use a diaper champ. We remove the insert from the outer diaper and clean off the outer diaper with the sprayer. We then put the diaper, the insert and the wipe in the diaper champ. When it is full we dump everything into the washer. The recommendation is to wash with warm water and select a double rinse. I have recently read that you can use cold water and only one rinse but I have never seen that succeed. I think if you wash less diapers at a time then I do it might work. In the summer I try and always hang the diapers on the line to reduce the energy used to dry them. You can throw all the parts in the dryer though. Try and make sure the Velcro is in place and attached to the sides of the diapers, otherwise they all Velcro together in the dryer. It also ensures the Velcro will last longer. You don't have to worry about this if you have snaps.
Once an awhile I have heard moms complain of the cotton diaper smell. I have read that if you wash them with vinegar in a load this can reduce the smell. I also think you could use essential oils like lavender. It tends to mean the diapers are too acidic. If you use basic items like baking soda, this can work too.
I do have a couple caveats. Firstly, it is hard to fit newborns in cloth diapers. For both of my boys I used the Seventh Generation diapers for the first couple of weeks after they were born. bumGenius does make a newborn cloth diaper but I chose not to buy these and use the disposable. Secondly, I am a lazy mother who loves my sleep. Since I co-sleep my children don't wake up as much or for as long so I can easily breastfeed them and they go back to sleep quickly. I decided that adding the extra step of changing diapers at night after they were a month old was too much for me. I have found that cotton diapers leak if they are on that long so I use disposables at night to ensure that I get a good night sleep. This is your personal preference though. Thirdly, when we travel we use disposables for convenience since you need a washer to clean your diapers. Again, you can make this work if you want to though.
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