Cloth Diapers

We have been cloth diapering Norah for a few weeks now, so I feel like we are experienced enough to blog about it:) I believe we started when she was about 2 1/2 weeks old.

I had originally intended to start the cloth diapers when she was big enough to exclusively wear the AIO (all in one) size pocket diapers we have. However, one of Erin's coworkers gave us 17 newborn prefolds with a variety of covers. Awesome! So, we started earlier than we had planned but we were able to do so for free :)

These are the newborn prefolds (free) and the cloth wipes I purchased from Buy Buy Baby. We have 24 flannel wipes and so far that has been a good amount. I had to wash diapers every other day when we were exclusively using the prefold diapers. About 1 1/2 weeks later, we introduced the AOI pocket diapers, too.

I honestly don't know how many diapers Norah goes through in one day. Sometimes she likes to poop in the diaper 1.5 seconds after I lift her off the changing pad. So, that throws off my count of how many she would have normally gone through :)

Anyways, this is what our diaper area looks like and the system we have.

Prefolds and wipes are stored in this drawer.

The green thing is a "insert grabber." It's really meant to be an over mit thingy, but it's perfect for grabbing wet inserts from the pocket diapers! 

 

The second shelf is where I store the pocket diapers.

I also store pocket diapers on this side. These diapers are already stuffed with a charcoal and microfiber insert. We double up at night time so I rarely have to change Norah's diaper unless its poopy. I stuff the diaper with both inserts in the pocket. It's so much better than waking her up more by changing her diaper. And, she has never had a diaper rash so far.

I am able to store the flannel wipes in this old wipe container that I saved. I found this awesome tutorial here that shows you how to fold them just right so they can be dispensed one by one. Brilliant. We store them dry and when we change a diaper, we just walk about 5 feet to the bathroom sink and wet it with water. Easy peasy.

I have two of these super cute wet bags. This is a small/medium size bag that will hold a days worth of diapers. I keep one in my diaper bag. I also have a larger wet bag that I use on rotation when these are dirty. I throw the wet bags in the laundry with the diapers.

This is a long wet bag I bought on Etsy that fits in the diaper genie. I wash it with the diapers as well.

My husband, who doesn't "know" how to fold his own t-shirts will fold a prefold diaper on Norah. What a man! Now we need to work on the t-shirts...

Here is what the prefold looks like on a super cute baby!

We fold them with a snappi. They are really easy to use. The 3 ends have little prongs that catch on the diaper and hold it in place. We have a 3 pack and that's really all you need. I keep an extra in the diaper bag and changing table. 

This is the cover you put around the prefold. We have a handful of these that we were given, too.

This is a AIO pocket diaper. Fishy butt!

When I'm done with diaper laundry, I sit on the couch for maybe 7 minutes and stuff the diapers. When they are stuffed in advance, it makes changing the diaper just as fast as a disposable.

 How do I wash my diapers? It's pretty simple. They all are stored in the wet bags. That doesn't mean there is any liquid or anything in the bag. You just put the dirty diaper in the bag and zip it shut. Or shove it in the diaper genie. We do remove the insert first, that way we don't have to do it two days later when they smell "nice" ;)

When it's time to wash, everything goes into the washer: the AIOs, the prefolds, the wipes, the covers and the wet bags. Rinse on COLD. Wash on HOT with detergent. Rinse on COLD again. I put the prefolds, wipes, and inserts into the dryer. The AIOs, wet bags, and outer covers get line dried. When anything has a stain, they get bleached by the sun. It does wonders I say!

Before

After drying in the sun for a few hours.

I use Tide free & gentle laundry detergent. It's not a cloth diapering detergent but a lot of people use Tide and say it's fine. It's also very affordable.

My AIO diaper stash consists of:
-16 Alva pocket diapers with microfiber inserts
-7 Bumgenius freetimes
-2 Bumgenius 4.0s
-10 charcoal liners

That's about it! When I'm not at home, changing her diaper isn't any harder. I store dry wipes in the wipe container my diaper bag came with and throw the dirty diapers into the wet bag! For now, we are using both the prefolds and the AIO but eventually it will just be the AIO diapers. I don't plan on buying any larger prefolds.

I think I personally have spent about $200 for my diaper stash. I used 20% off coupons for all my bumgenius diapers since I bought them at Buy Buy Baby. I did have a giftcard or two from baby showers, too. I bought 10 alva diapers from a diaper exchange facebook group for $50. Only 2 had been used. The other six I bought new for $50 (these ones have the fun designs: fish, owls and chevron). The charcoal liners I bought from either Amazon or Mot's Tot's Diaper Boutique on facebook. That is also where I bought the owl wet bags ($6 each). The diaper genie bag was from Etsy and I think it was $10.