This article is written by Angela Anderson, a Houston Native living in the mountains in Colorado with her fiancé and two sons, Anderson 4 and Ever, 8 months. She is of many things, a not so serious writer who is great with words, a professionally trained chef, Mom of 2 toddlers and an eco-friendly enthusiast doing her part to tread lightly on our beautiful planet.
Taking the plunge into cloth diapering:
I’ve always been interested in cloth diapering, but assumed it would take too much time and effort. It seemed like something only the crunchiest of crunchy mommas could pull off. But, one night, unable to sleep and itching to shop, I took a deep dive on cloth diapering via the Amazon app. What I discovered is that cloth diapering is actually not that big of a deal! With the right products, it’s completely doable. Here’s what I bought and how everything works:
ALVABABY Cloth Diapers:
Maybe it’s just me, but I always thought you had to buy new cloth diapers each time your baby grew out of their diaper size. Not true! These diapers have a ton of snaps that make it easy to find your baby’s best fit. When they grow, you just change up the snaps. Easy! From use I learned that the most likely culprit of leaks is the leg holes being too large. So pay close attention to getting the right fit there. For the easiest experience, I suggest buying two sets of these. I’ve washed them on both a normal cycle with warm water and a quick cycle with hot water and both resulted in clean diapers.
Bumkins flushable biodegradable liners:
In the past, cloth diapering mommas have attached a poop sprayer to their toilet so they can spray the poop out of the diapers and flush it. This is something I just wasn’t willing to do. But there’s another way! Put these liners (they kind of look like a dryer sheet) in the cloth diaper and the poop never touches the actual diaper! It’s basically a miracle invention. The liner catches the poop and you simply flush it away! No need to get on your knees and spray poop.
Bumpkins Flushable Biodegradable Liners 100 count
Flushable wipes:
I tried continuing to use my old wipes but it became a bit difficult. The diaper is going into the wet bag, the liner is going into the toilet. Where does the wipe go? I decided flushable wipes would help streamline diaper changes.
Amazon Elements Baby Wipes, Sensitive, 480 Count, Flip-Top Packs
Wet/Dry bag:
These bags hold in the stink. And they have two pockets, which is helpful for when you’re on the go. I keep one bag on my changing table to hold the wet diapers until it’s time to wash. I keep the other in my diaper bag. Put liners and clean diapers and inserts (the inserts come with the diapers) in one pocket, and dirty diapers in the other. It keeps everything separate so the clean ones stay that way. Again, for the easiest experience, you might order two packs of these (4 total). It’s nice to keep an extra one downstairs for when I don’t want to run upstairs for a diaper change.
ALVABABY Cloth Diaper Wet Dry Bags
These products have made cloth diapering much easier than I ever thought it could be. That said, there are still situations when I don’t cloth diaper. I don’t use them for overnight. Even when I double up the inserts, baby still doesn’t stay dry. So, it’s still disposable diapers at night. Also, as amazing as the Bumkins liners are, I don’t trust them to catch sick poops. My kiddo was sick recently and I used disposable diapers until his poops returned to normal. I don’t think I’d recommend cloth for a new born. Their poops are too irregular. I waited until mine was 6 months old, eating some solid foods and making consistent poops. So don’t get rid of your diaper genie just yet, there are still times when a disposable diaper is the best choice. Still, cloth diapering has become the norm in my house and I’m very happy I took the plunge!