Hi Sis,
I spoke to Carmin the other day, to see if he was interested in pitching into the family fund for Rebecca’s baby gift. He was very happy with the idea of getting her cloth diapers, but wanted me to show her my set up first. Saying, “Education is the best gift.” His recommendation, a video series.
I agree, a video series would have been amazing. I smiled, and told Carmin he could drive here and be the camera man, and dub out the baby screams in the background. That sadly didn’t happen, so here is a blog post instead. I hope it saves Rebecca from some of the trail and error I had.
My set up
Here is child’s dresser. The top drawer holds our forty flat diapers and covers. Yes, I have a lot of diapers. Life gets busy and I don’t like running out. The top cubby holds wipes, boosters, and polar fleece liners… washable poop catchers.
The top has
* Water and soap for the wipes
* Coconut oil to prevent rashes
* Butt paste and Talc Free Baby Powder for rashes
* Soap for sticking pins into, so they stay nice and sharp
Putting the Diaper on Evelyn
All of my diapers are already folded. I like the Kite Fold. Folding flats is like folding a towel. It is fast, easy, and I can fold a flat faster than I can stuff a pocket diaper. For newborns there is the Mini Kite Fold and Origami Fold.
Image found on babycenter
If fastening a flat on a baby is intimating… there is also the pad fold. I also use this for night diapers, when I need to double a flat. Or for when Evelyn is fussy, and squirming a lot.
image: clothdiaperrevial
Putting on a Flat Diaper
* Put stay dry polar fleece liner on top
* Put under baby
* Pull up center. Fold center inward if it is wide.
* Hold hand under. Drawl up side wing and pin.
* Repeat
* Roll or tuck in sides of the flat around the legs to hold in poop and get a better fit.
Put on Cover. Make sure nothing is sticking out, or you will have wicking. This is true with any type of diaper, even the insides of pocket diapers. You only want to see the PUL edge.
Ooops a little bit sticking out, just stuff in back in with a finger.
Now you have a diapered baby.
Good Fit
A good fit has elastics snug (not ultra tight) with no gaping at the legs. You can have some gaping at the front. You want the legs to go into the legs creases, and feel free to snap your diapers not symmetrically. The hips often need another snap out from the waist.
Dealing with Dirties
If it is a pee diaper, I just empty the flat into the diaper pail, and let the cover air dry… or use it again. I don’t need to wash covers unless they get poop on them, or they start to get stinky.
If it is poop, most of the poop comes off with the liner. On occasion, I have to dunk and swish (or use a sprayer) a flat. With younger babies, the poop gets everywhere on the inside of the diaper. Thankfully, milk poop is water soluble, so it doesn’t mater if it you spray it off.
Night Diapering
The cloth diapering world likes to make night diapers expensive and difficult. It doesn’t have to be. Most babies don’t need a $30.00 night fitted, hemp or a wool cover. Here is my night diaper. It is nothing more than another flat pad folded inside another flat. For a total of 24 oz of absorption… the night fitteds I had rarely held more than 16 oz, and my kid peed right them.
Night diapers become needed when kiddo starts sleeping through the night. There is a higher concentration of ammonia in night diapers. I rinse them out before putting them into the diaper pail. If you use really thick inserts for nights, or fitteds, you may want to wash three times to prevent them from stinking.
If using pockets at night – sometimes the extra stuffing makes them gap at the legs. So, for some babies pockets will not work at night. Extra wide covers like Thirsties are a good option to cover up all the bulk.
Boosters
Preemie prefolds are our favorite boosters. We use these on long car trips, or when I worry that I may not be able to change little one fast enough.
Washing
Is simple with flats. Sometimes I wash once, other times (especially if we have some poop on the diapers) I wash twice. I use the most water wasting cycle possible, warm, and heavy load. Always use a nice strong detergent like Tide Original. I buy it at Aldi cause it is a bit cheaper there. Try not to fill your load to full. A full diaper pail is a load of laundry for us.
Do check water hardness. Mineral buildup can cause diapers to not absorb properly. You may have to add something to your laundry to prevent buildup.
If washing pockets, all in ones, or fitteds it is best to always wash twice.
Drying
I like flats and covers because of how easy they dry. They will actually dry overnight, during the day if hung in the morning, or in the drier in just 30 min.
Most diapers take 60-90 min in the drier, or 2 days on the line. I line dry covers, because I have damaged the PUL in the drier. If you get pockets you can air dry them, or dry them on low/medium heat to prevent PUL damage… they will just take forever in the drier.
Sun drying diapers does have one nice benefit… minus the free part. It gets out the stains! Especially, during the newborn period all the diapers get stained that pumpkin orange. You don’t need to add bleach or oxiclean to your diapers. Just get them wet and put them in the sun. If something is real stubborn lemon juice helps.
Covers
Not only are covers the cheapest way to cloth diaper your baby (at $5.00 – $14.00 each you use them about 4 times before washing), they have something most other diapers do not offer. Double gussets!!!
Double gussets are amazing. Liquid baby poop explosion!!! Don’t worry double gussets have your back. I have never had anything escape a double gusset cover. During the liquid poo stage, we got out of our pocket diapers and single gusset covers, about once a week.
Covers we like are Happy Flute/Fluffy Penguin, Nickis, Rumparooz and Thirsties Duo.
Folding Flats into something stackable
Utilizing Flats, but not pinning them on
There are other fasteners besides pins. If you want to try this setup, they have snappi’s and bongos too. Flats can also be pad folding and laid inside a cover, or stuffed right into a pocket diaper.
Rebecca – If You Want to Use Pockets
Some people really love pockets, and if you want to use pockets that is great! I do recommend tossing the microfiber inserts, and opting for something else. Here are three great options we would be happy to get you.
Bamboo or Cotton Inserts – Use them the same as regular inserts. Do keep in mind they might take about 60-90 minutes to dry in the drier. But, they absorb quickly, wash better then microfiber, and do not have compression leaks. you will most likely need 2 inserts per diaper. These will be your most expensive option Link
or here is more inserts (hemp/cotton, bamboo) Link
Prefolds – These are easy. Just pad fold (fold in half or thirds) and stuff into your pockets. They do take about 60 minutes to dry in the drier. I did not like to dry these on the line, because they were slow to dry and got crunchy. But, they wash easy, no compression leaks! Link
If you like the system I use, prefolds are also common. Some people pin them on, many just pad fold right into a cover. If pinned on, you need multiple sizes of prefolds to fit onto the baby. If using pockets or a pad fold a size small will usually do the trick.
Flats – That is what I use. They wash the easiest, dry super fast, no compression leaks, are very trim, and are the cheapest option for diapering. Link
We hope you enjoy your cloth diapering experience!
Hugs,
Jamie
