cloth diapers

We cloth diaper 'round here.

Because, really, what's cuter than a cloth diapered booty?!

Here's how we do it in the Pollock household...

the stash

 8 Flip covers

Inside the cloth diaper is a laminated fabric called PUL.

You simply wipe the inside clean between uses and use the same outer diaper all day/night.

With so many snaps, the Flip can fit babies of all sizes.

 
In my opinion, these are the easiest to use. There's no pocket to slide an insert into, no velcro to snag; instead you just lay the prefold on the Flip cover, snap to fit your baby and you're good to go!

 24 Bummis organic unbleached cotton prefolds

The prefolded lines make folding into thirds a snap!

These are thick, absorbent and oh so soft. Luke has sensitive skin and breaks out easily, so organic cotton without any additives was a priority. I love how perfectly these prefolds fit into the diapers as well. Sold in packages of six, we got four sets so that we're never without a prefold.

10 Bummis fleece liners

If you look closely at the picture below you can see the two sides. 

The top stack shows the fleece side and the bottom stacks shows the cotton underside.

I didn't have these in my stash to begin with, but after just two days of using cloth we realized that Luke's skin was turning red where his chunky rolls come together. The fix? Something to wick away the moisture more than a prefold alone. These are just the ticket! They keep his bottom dry without the added bulk of a doubler. love em!

6 stay dry doublers by Bum Genius

 The top picture shows the microfiber side, or the underside of the doubler.
The picture below shows the fleece side that goes on top and touches the baby's bottom.

These are great for nighttime use, traveling or anytime you need to extend the time between diaper changes. Similar to the fleece liner, they wick away the moisture and keep baby's bottom dry.

2 wet bags

The homemade one- the larger one- is used at home. (Thanks to my mom for helping me!)
The smaller one I use in the diaper bag for errands, church, etc. (It's made by Bummis.)

the detergent

Some people say you don't need to use special soap for cloth diapers,
but with our guy's tender skin, we do. We have only used the Charlie's Soap so far,
and it's working beautifully to clean the diapers thoroughly.

the process

If you're like me, you like to see something done rather than just read about it.
Hello, video!

to clean

 I don't do it "by the book" like many of the websites will tell you. I've got a variation on their recommendations and it's working great for us so far. At each diaper change I toss anything that's wet or dirty into a wet bag. Every other night I toss everything - diapers, prefolds, fleece liners, doublers & wet bags - into the wash. First I run a cold/cold cycle without detergent. Next I run a hot/cold cycle with one full scoop of detergent (Charlie's Soap). Once the wash cycle is done it's time to dry. The diapers & wet bags are made of a laminated fabric and don't go into the dryer. I hang them to dry on our handy dandy Ikea carousel. Before I toss the prefolds, doublers & fleece liners into the dryer, I check for stains that may not have been removed and give everything a good whiff. (oh the things you do when you're a mom!) So far this routine has worked great; I haven't had any dirty or stinky diapers after the two washes. The prefolds are thick and tend to take a longer dryer cycle, but after a good hot dry on the "jeans" setting, we're good to go! Cleaning cloth diapers is surprisingly easy and I hope this process will continue to work for us.

Now I need your feedback!


Do you have any questions for me that I didn't answer about using cloth diapers?

If you cloth diaper, what brands of diapers & detergent do you use?

What's your wash routine?

Do you have any other tips or tricks for a mama new to the cloth routine?