Thursday, January 15, 2015
How I Cloth Diaper
1. Grovia Magic Stick- We use this with every diaper change. I love that it comes in a stick and I don't need to get diaper cream all over my fingers. Update: As my son has gotten older, we use this less frequently, but it is still my favorite diaper cream and I love that it is safe with cloth diapers (we still use a flushable liner as extra barrier protection).
2. Ubbi Diaper Pail- Having a diaper pail makes changing diapers so much easier for day to day. We actually use this diaper pail for my son's disposable diapers and wipes so I keep it lined with a regular kitchen trash bag. My son does wear one disposable diaper every night at bedtime so it accumulates about 7 diapers plus all of the wipes for the week and then I empty it Sunday evening right before garbage day. I have NEVER had a problem with smells in his room other than the few seconds I have it opened to throw in a new dirty diaper or wipes. I also LOVE that I can use regular kitchen trash bags in this diaper pail.
3. Bumgenius 4.0 One Size Cloth Diaper- These are pocket diapers. Originally, I purchased these because I thought they would be great for nighttime diapering. You can easily add absorbency to the diaper with hemp or bamboo liners. As it turns out, we use a disposable at nighttime. My little guy is a heavy wetter and my diapers started to smell like ammonia when I sprayed them out in the morning. I do tend to use these diapers at nap time though because I can double up the liners and they work well for those longer 3 hour stretches. I have been blessed with a very good sleeper!
4. Flushable Diaper Liners- I could not cloth diaper without flushable liners! Once you get into solid foods, flushable liners are a must have item -- at least for my family! So what is the purpose of a diaper liner you might ask?? Easy... baby poops... you remove the diaper from the baby... walk into the bathroom and flush the poopy liner down the toilet. You may have to spray the edges of the diaper a little, but the majority of the mess is taken care of by the liner. Genius! My favorite brand is the Imse diaper liners, baby size. I recently purchased the toddler size thinking my son was old enough for them now and it turns out they are way too big for his Bumgenius diapers. They still work just as well but I need to fold them quite a few times to get the right fit inside the diaper. I have also tried the Grovia Bioliners (shown above) and liked them. However, I tend to wash my diaper liners and reuse them once or twice if it was just pee and the Grovialiners didn't hold up very well in my machine.
5. Bumgenius Freetime One Size Cloth Diaper- These are truly an all-in-one diaper. There aren't any inserts or extra pieces-- just the diaper. These are by far my favorite diaper and my husband's favorite diaper as well because there is no stuffing required like with a pocket diaper. You just wash and air dry. I have never had any trouble with leaks during the day. They fit well and tend to look a little less bulky on my son's bottom than the pocket diapers. These are the diapers I tend to recommend to anyone looking into cloth diapering.
6. Planet Wise Wet/Dy Bags- Since my son goes to daycare full-time, these are the bags we use to get diapers to and from home. If you are staying at home, just one or two would be plenty, but since both my husband and I work full-time outside the home, 6 bags are the right number for us. That gives us 5 bags for the work week and one extra to keep stashed in the diaper bag. I like the size medium because they easily hold a days worth of diapers. At the end of the day, I bring the bag home and empty everything into my large hanging wet bag. When my large wet bag fills up... then I know it's time for laundry!
7. Planet Wise Pail Liner- I don't actually own this item yet, but I'm planning to purchase two when we have another baby. By that time, my son will be potty trained so I will no longer need my Ubbi pail for disposables and I plan to use it for all of the newborn cloth diapers and cloth wipes.
8. Planet Wise Hanging Wet/Dry Bag- As I have already mentioned, this is the bag we use to store all of our dirty diapers in until laundry day. I have never actually counted, but this bag easily holds 3-5 days worth of diapers depending on how many diapers changes your child needs throughout the day. It does a fairly decent job of containing the smells, not perfect, but it has never bothered us having it hanging in the nursery or bathroom. Once the bag fills up, I am able to carry it down to the basement and dump everything (bag included) into the washing machine. I do wash on hot which I have heard can ruin the integrity of the bag, but I am willing to replace it if/when that happens down the road. I have had my bag for 20 months now (I can't believe my son is that old!), washing every other week (I have two that I rotate) and it is still going strong....
9. Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Baby Wipes- Once my son was eating solid foods, we started using disposable wipes exclusively and this was the brand I liked the best. I tried other, less expensive brands, but even my husband said the extra cost was worth it to him. Thankfully, I have been able to catch pretty good deals on these now and again at Target or through my Amazon Mom subscribe and save account. I will admit I didn't use cloth wipes as much as I would have liked those first 6 months when my son was still exclusively breastfed. I was overwhelmed with being a first-time mom and learning the ropes of cloth diapering, but it is definitely a challenge I am up for if/when we add another baby to our family down the road.
10. Bumbgenius Diaper Sprayer- If you are going to cloth diaper, having a diaper sprayer makes it so much easier-- at least in my experience. We keep this attached to our upstairs toilet which is right next door to our nursery. It does take a little practice to get used to the sprayer, but it very quickly becomes second nature. Once the diaper is sprayed, I fold the clean outer parts together and give it a good squeeze to remove excess water before tossing it into the wet bag.
So! Those are the basics of how we make cloth diapering work for our family. Do you have any cloth diaper favorites? Please share below in the comments!
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