I cloth diapered Gabe from about 10 days old, and did the same this time around. Here’s what I wrote about cloth diapering last time: two months in and two years in.
This time around I really simplified my stash and routine:
Washing more often. Instead of every 3-4 days, I’ve been washing every 2 days. This is a direct result of having a washer and dryer IN MY HOUSE I’M STILL SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS.
Using more detergent. I read this post “Enough with the Stripping Already,” and it made so much sense I immediately started using more detergent. No vinegar, no baking soda, just a normal amount of Trader Joe’s powdered detergent and done. No stink, no stripping, easy.
Cotton only! No more microfiber. Part of my no stink might be that I got rid of all my microfiber inserts and stuff my FuzziBunz and covers with 100% cotton prefolds or bamboo/hemp inserts.
GroVia covers are my favorites. I got some last time around, but they changed their pattern or material and I like them a lot better now. I stick with snaps because they hold up well, there are lots of cute patterns to choose from.
Some didn’t stand the test of time. Namely, BumGenius and the OneSize FuzziBunz. Both had peeling delamination (who knew that was a word? Not me.), so I had to get rid of them, sadly. The best diapers that lasted through two-and-a-half years of Gabe and more than a year of Theo? Size medium Perfect Size Fuzzibunz. And! They were bought secondhand from Craigslist. So they’ve been through at least three kids. Pretty awesome. (Not sure if they’ve changed their pattern/materials, but if you find them secondhand, worth a shot!) Green mountain prefolds also have lasted since Gabe!
Covers on vacation with disposables. When we traveled to Puerto Rico, Theo was seven months old. My kids both have had…problems with disposable diapers not containing their bodily fluids, so I decided to put him in a disposable with a cloth cover over it to see if that helped. He had zero blowouts on vacation (even on the airplane, which is renowned for its pressure causing problems in the diaper department)! Score.
My full stash is pretty small and simple, but gets us through 2-3 days:
1 Thirsties cover for each size
1 Snappi (local cloth diaper store sells them individually)
2 BabyKicks hemp-cotton inserts
6 GroVia inserts (many of them secondhand from local diaper store for cheap!)
Accessories:
Reusable diaper pail liner (we just hang it on a hook in the bathroom)
Small wet bag for diaper bag (bought secondhand from local diaper store for cheap!)
Still recommend: The Cotton Babies “Try It” Kit! It’s great for trying out prefolds for a very affordable price.
Cloth diapering is not a hobby for me, so I don’t have a huge stash. It’s totally just a way to save tons of money and have a little less impact on the planet (learning that a disposable diaper takes 500 years to decompose haunts me).
This is so interesting to me, as we also cloth diapered both kiddos. Notice I used the past tense, though, as Annika declared her VERY FIRM opposition to cloth diapers a couple months ago, and we ended up giving them up for her after she did not get over it. She would sob and scream NO DIAPER! OTHER DIAPER! And try to find a disposable and bring it to us, and if we put her in the cloth diapers anyway she would do this exaggerated, wide-legged waddle to demonstrate her displeasure, and would continually cry and pull at her diaper and ask for NEW DIAPER, OTHER DIAPER over and over, and I felt like I could not in good conscience keep putting her in something that so clearly made her uncomfortable. (I think this came about because she started daycare, where she wears disposable diapers, and that made her notice the difference.) But, we got through 2.5 years with Callum and 1.75 years with Annika, all with the set of FuzziBunz One Size diapers that I bought when Callum was a few weeks old (like you, it’s not a hobby–I read reviews and then bought without even trying anything else) and we’ve had no problems whatsoever with ours. In fact, they’re in good enough shape that I’m planning to sell them. We had a good run!
Gabe was like this! After he potty trained and we tried using cloth at night he was like “no cloth!!” Ha.
I never had a great run with BumGenius either. I have inherited a bunch of them from friends over the years- mostly people who sort of give cloth a go and then decided it wasn’t for them. They always leaked, so I just pass them on. Strange, because for a while they seemed to get the best reviews from so many people. The brand we’ve used (four kids! 7 years!) is Mother Ease. I wish they had cuter covers when we initially invested, but other than that I’ve been really happy.
So many good brands out there that contain the mess well:) Anytime I use disposables I appreciate the convenience but also fear the blow out.
This is very helpful! I’m a first time mom with a 3 month old, and we currently have three thirsties covers and 12 green mountain cotton prefolds, with a few all in ones that I don’t use much. (I loved the thirsties AIO newborns sizes while he was tiny since they were less bulky than the prefolds, but now am finding they don’t seem as convenient..). I think I need to build out my stash a little bit more, though, and you have given me some new options to look into! Also, always great to have the positive reinforcement from other cloth diapering moms.
And hope you are enjoying Massachusetts! My husband and I currently live outside of NYC but we are New Englanders at heart (born and raised) and there is nothing better than New England in the fall :) Love your blog!!
Thanks for sharing this helpful article..