Cloth Diapering: An Attainable + Sustainable Approach
Why We Cloth Diaper
Better for Mother Earth: Did you know that the average child will go through anywhere from 2,000 to 2,500 diapers in their first year of life alone? I cannot for the life of me remember where I once stumbled upon a display of a pile of disposable diapers this size, but I will always remember the visual (that’s what’s important, right?). The amount of trash (most of which either doesn’t decompose or takes forever to do so) was shocking, and I decided in that moment I would do all that I could to minimize my family’s contribution to the landfill. With our hybrid cloth/disposable diapering method, we only use 1-2 disposable diapers per day, versus the 8-12 average daily consumption for an infant.
Cost Savings: Although the startup costs for cloth diapering can be fairly high, it pays for itself quickly, even if you’re doing a hybrid cloth/disposable routine like we do. Our total startup costs for diaper inserts and covers, a diaper pail and reusable liners, a wet bag for travel, and a diaper sprayer came to around $415 (and since we started with our first baby, we put all of these items on our registry and actually spent $0 of our own money. Thanks, friends and fam!). However, we only go through a $25 box of diapers (Seventh Generation size 3, 72 diapers) once every 5-6 weeks on average, whereas we’d likely be going through this same box every 7-9 DAYS if we didn’t use cloth. That comes to $215-$260 per year versus $1000-$1300 per year. HOLY. Plus, our $415 worth of cloth diaper supplies have carried us through baby #1, around 6 weeks of age through potty training at 22 months, and 6 months and counting with baby #2. And you best believe we’ll be using them for babies #3, 4, and 5 (kidding, maybe?) and then stripping and reselling them when we’re through! If you want to save even more and be even more eco-friendly, you can buy gently used cloth diapers through Jillian’s Drawers or your local Facebook Marketplace! I would recommend stripping your diapers before use if they’ve been on strangers’ bums.
Reduced Rashes + Irritation: While this isn’t one of the reasons we originally sought out cloth diapering, it’s been a HUGE perk. We have never owned or used any type of butt paste or diaper rash cream. As long as your babe does well with your laundry detergent of choice, there’s really nothing irritating or toxic about cloth diapers. Disposables, on the other hand, can be full of chemicals, plastics, adhesives, and fragrances. There’s nothing natural about a product that can hold 12 hours worth of pee!
Earlier Potty Training: Again, not a reason we chose to cloth diaper, but THE BIGGEST PERK. Theoretically, cloth diapered kiddos have an easier time learning to use the potty because they can actually feel when they’re wet, whereas disposables wick that moisture away from the body. It could totally be coincidence (I’ll update you with data for baby #2 down the line), but our first, a boy, successfully potty trained at 22-23 months old. Word on the street (and by street, I mean all my Facebook mom groups) is that most boys don’t even start training until closer to 3 years old. It’s hardly scientific research, but I’ll take it! Earlier potty training also = more diaper savings. Double win!
No Blowouts: I’m not exactly sure of the physics behind this, but I have never, not once, had to clean poop out of baby clothes when my babe was wearing a cloth diaper. Sure, they’re not nearly as absorbent as disposables, so we have more leaks than you would with disposable diapers, but I will take 100 wet outfits over 3 poopy outfits. Girlfriend’s got enough laundry to do without needing to stain treat every last item, thank you very much!
How it Works for our Family
As a self-proclaimed Type A control freak, I have to consciously remind myself to find balance in my life, and diapering is no different. I knew I wanted to cloth diaper for the reasons listed above, but I also knew I’d risk running myself ragged if I put the pressure on myself to exclusively cloth diaper. Through lots of trial and error and poopy laundry, we’ve settled into a pretty comfortable cloth/disposable hybrid routine that allows us to save the Earth and all that good stuff, while also maintaining a reasonable level of sanity. It truly is an attainable and sustainable (get it?) way to find the best of both worlds. Let’s break it down:
Even if you’ve got all your cloth diapering supplies ready to go and you’re anxious to save the planet, I would recommend using disposables for baby’s first week of life or so, until he or she has pooped out all that lovely meconium from birth. That stuff is NOT cute and will definitely stain your stash, so hold off on the cloth until you’re getting those mustard yellow poos! I’ve found that our cloth diapers leak a lot when our babes are too little to fill them out (and we make big babies), even though the diapers are adjustable and technically suited for babies 6 pounds and up. We’ve had success starting at around 6 weeks of age. This also gives you some grace to get a handle on newborn life before throwing an extra process and load of laundry into your routine!
We aim to use cloth diapers most of the time, but there are some occasions where disposables reduce stress, mess, and chaos, and my fellow mamas know that that is SO worth it. Cloth diapers are not as absorbent as disposables. They’re just plain ol’ cotton- no crazy chemicals here- so it’s much more common for babes to soak through and end up in a wet outfit. For this reason, we use disposable diapers during long naps (2 hours or more) and nighttime. I also like to use a disposable if we’re heading out for a long day of errands, parks, etc. To me, using one disposable diaper is a welcome trade-off if it means that I won’t have to wrestle my infant on a questionably-sanitized Target changing table while my toddler splashes in the toilet.
Similarly, I try to give myself grace when diaper laundry’s gone undone or it’s just been a DAY. For the sake of my mental health, I have no problem waking up and saying, “Yup, today is going to be a disposable day.” I attribute 100% of the longevity of our cloth diapering journey to this grace and flexibility. I’m doing the best I can, and every diaper not trashed is a win in my book!
When we are home and in our usual routine, I aim to change cloth diapers at around the 1.5-2-hour mark (or when little man stinks, of course); this tends to be our sweet spot in avoiding soaking through, but your baby’s bladder may be different! With wet diapers and smaller poops, you can usually just get a fresh cloth insert and reuse the cover. Obviously if the cover is at all soiled, the whole setup gets a refresh.
Since we use cloth more than disposable, we have our diaper pail set up with a reusable cloth liner, which I toss in the laundry with the diaper load (more on laundry later). We just throw our occasional disposable diapers in the kitchen trash, which can mean we’re emptying the kitchen trash more often due to smell. However, with our trash in a pull-out can under a cabinet, I don’t feel like smell has been a big issue, especially before baby’s eating solids!
When it comes to actually assembling the two-part diapers (if that’s what you choose- more on types and our preferences below), there can be some trial and error. There are multiple ways to fold the cloth inserts, and we tend to just stick with the basic “Pad Fold.” I like to fold all of the cloth inserts in thirds vertically (hot dog style, if you will) and then in half (hamburger style) and store them in the changing table this way. Then when it’s time for a change, it’s easy to just tuck the cloth into the diaper cover and snap it up around baby! You can buy the inserts in different sizes, but we’ve found the size noted below to work from start to finish- you will likely just have to roll a bit of excess length down in the front when baby’s smaller, which just provides some extra absorbency in the front, anyway!
Laundry
Laundry. Ohhhh laundry. I’d be willing to bet that the actual washing of poopy diapers is the #1 cloth diapering deterrent, but I’m here to tell you that it’s truly not that bad. Regardless of whether we’ve run out of our stash or not, I wash a load of cloth diapers every 3-4 days, max, so it’s only 1-2 extra loads per week. After that, anything that’s sitting in the diaper pail starts to stink. Bad. I usually prefer gentle, unscented laundry detergents, but the dainty stuff just does NOT work for baby messes. Trust me, I’ve tried, and here we are with Costco odor-blasting pods. Balance, right?
Now when your babe is exclusively breastfeeding, their poop is water soluble, meaning you can throw it STRAIGHT. IN. THE. WASH. I know, it sounds gross, but you’ll get over it because easy > cleanly. So during our EBF months, baby’s dirty diapers go straight to the lined diaper pail, which then gets turned inside out and dumped right in the washer with the diapers themselves. I run two cycles: one rinse in cold water with no detergent, then a heavy duty wash in hot water with a detergent pod. Transfer the cotton cloths to the dryer and air dry the covers and pail liner and voilà! If you start diaper laundry during bath and bedtime routines, then you can get every single diaper in the wash (how satisfying) and have them air drying overnight, so you have fresh, clean diapers in the morning without having to use any additional disposables during laundering (assuming you’re already using disposables for bedtime)!
If and when you’ve got solids and/or formula in the mix, unfortunately there’s another, not-so-cute step in the laundering process. Poop that’s got anything but breastmilk in it is NOT water soluble and will cake your washing machine, so you’ll need to get rid of the bulk of it before washing your diapers. After I change a poopy diaper, I take it to the bathroom where we have a sprayer attachment on the toilet and spray as much of it off into the toilet as I can. This does not have to be 100% thorough- think rinsing your dishes before putting them in the dishwasher. You don’t put a plate full of dinner scraps in the dishwasher (or maybe you do, in which case we can’t be friends); you don’t put a diaper full of solid poo in the washer. Just a good rinse into the toilet will do the trick, then I toss the diaper in the pail with the rest of them and laundry is otherwise the same!
Our Fave Supplies
When it comes to choosing your cloth diapers, you have several options, most of which are some combination of a two-piece set (cloth diaper and waterproof liner) or an all-in-one piece. All-in-ones are a simpler, one-step diaper that you would change just like a disposable. After doing hours and hours of research, however, we decided to go with the cloth prefold inserts and waterproof liners for a number of reasons. First, they wash more quickly than all-in-ones (which can require several dry cycles) since the cloth goes in the dryer and the covers easily air-dry, which means fewer disposables used during laundry and lower energy consumption. I found this option to be more affordable, too, since we could buy more of the cloth inserts than covers and only swap out the cloth when we’re dealing with an easy pee or small poop.
We purchased 24 cloth prefold inserts, 10 size 1 covers, and 10 size 2 covers, and this quantity works out pretty perfectly to get us through 3-4 days of diapering before laundering. Here’s everything you’ll need to get started:
24 cloth prefolds, Infant 4x6x4 size (purchased by the dozen)
10 Thirsties Duo Wrap cloth diaper covers, size 1
10 Thirsties Duo Wrap cloth diaper covers, size 2
Diaper pail cloth liners, set of 2
Wet bag (for transporting soggy diapers when you’re out and about)