Cloth Diapering

If you've read my post about cloth diapering, you know how much I love it! I decided to gather some of my best tips (and places to buy!) and put them together for you.

Here's a quick rundown of the types of diapers you can buy. It is not exhaustive, merely a general overview. None of these links are affiliate links, I'm just sharing stuff I love!

All-in-ones: An all-in-one diaper is exactly what it sounds like - a cloth diaper that is all in one. The absorbency is sewn into the diaper with a waterproof outer cover (generally PUL - please don't say "pull," it's the letters P-U-L, and it stands for polyurethane laminate) and usually closes with snaps or hook and loop (Velcro). These are the closest you can get to disposable diapers, which is why we use them at daycare.

All-in-twos: All-in-twos are basically the same as all-in-ones, except the main part of the absorbency can be removed (it's usually snapped in) for washing or customizing. I send my son with these to daycare a lot because they are easier to wash than all-in-ones, which tend to hold onto smells more since the waterproof outer cover prevents the entire absorbency piece from being agitated and cleaned.

flats: Flats are your traditional cloth diapers and can be paired with a waterproof PUL cover or a wool cover. I didn't like flats when I first started, but I like them a lot now. They are the easiest to wash because they are simply a large, thin square of fabric (cotton, bamboo, or hemp) that unfolds and washes well. You can wrap and pin them around baby, or you can fold them up and stuff them in a pocket diaper (my preference).

prefolds: Prefolds are flats that have been, surprise, prefolded. They are thicker and smaller than flats because they have multiple layers; divided into three sections, the middle section is the thickest. These can be wrapped around baby or folded. I tend to fold mine and stuff them in pocket diapers, but they work great in covers, too.

covers: Generally made of PUL, these cover your flats/prefolds/fitted diapers and keep the wetness in. These are the most economical diapers because you only need a few covers and bunch of flats/prefolds/fitteds. A cover can be wiped with a baby wipe and reused over and over, unless baby gets poop on the cover and you need to actually wash it. Some covers even have small flaps, or pockets, on the front and back of the diaper to hold a folded flat or prefold in place. These are nice because you don't have to deal with wrapping and pinning (or using a Snappi). I use these a lot at daycare, too.

wool: My favorite! Wool is a natural fiber that is great for kids who struggle with diaper rash. Unlike PUL covers, wool will still breathe, which allows air to circulate on baby's bottom even if it's wet. You can use wool with fitteds (my preference), flats, or prefolds. You do have to lanolize wool, but that really isn't that hard (albeit a bit time consuming). This is a wonderful tutorial from Green Mountain Diapers (excellent brand) on how to lanolize and wash your wool. I think Disana covers are ugly, though, and recommend MyEcoBaby or LilysDreams on Etsy. Both ladies make handmade covers from recycled sweaters and their work is amazing! They also do custom designs and I have a TON of their items. MyEcoBaby even makes skirts! She made me a super cute poodle skirt for Rosalie.

pockets: Pockets are the standard go-to for most cloth diapering moms. They are basically just a cover, but they have a pocket made out of moisture wicking material on the inside of the diaper. You stuff your absorbency (insert, flat, prefold) into the pocket and snap or hook/loop it onto baby. I have mostly pocket diapers.

inserts: Inserts are essentially flats that have been folded into a rectangle and sewn together. They are the easiest to use with pocket diapers. Be wary of buying microfiber or bamboo charcoal; microfiber worked great during the newborn stage when Thorin was a fast peer, but they wear out relatively quickly, are harder to clean, and can really hold onto smells. Bamboo charcoal is also a misleading name; it is really microfiber surrounded by charcoal colored fleece, not bamboo. Cotton, actual bamboo, and hemp are better choices that most CD moms agree on.

liners: Liners are extremely thin pieces of either cotton or bamboo that you lay on top of the absorbency of your diaper and - here's the kicker - you throw away. They are by no means necessary for cloth diapering, but they have saved my sanity. When baby poops, you simply throw the poop in the trash (some liners claim to be flushable, but I've never risked it - plus, I'd have to carry poop from the baby's room to the bathroom and that seems silly when there's a perfectly functional diaper pail right there). Some die-hard CD moms say liners are for wimps who won't spray poopy diapers. Okay, I'm a wimp. And my husband would never agree to rinsing poopy diapers, especially during the beginning-solid-food era of our child's life. I use bamboo liners. Sure, they get thrown out, and yes, I do have to remember to buy them. But they come in packs of 400 and I have them on auto-order on Amazon - I've only run out once or twice in the last year and a half of cloth diapering. It's well worth not dealing with poop. I've also accidentally washed these liners many times, and they just shrink up; so if you wanted to be extra frugal, you could do what my mom did - wash the liners until they disintegrate OR baby poops in them. It works, we've tried it. 

Some moms with sensitive butt babies also use fleece liners. Fleece is a great wicking fabric, so it keeps wetness away from the baby's bottom. But, you have to rinse them if baby poops, or be super wasteful by throwing away every poopy liner (fleece is much more expensive than the actual disposable ones!). 

fitted diapers: Fitted diapers are flats in the shape of the standard diaper with elastic around the waist and snap closures. These are the ideal nighttime solution because they can't become unpinned, they cover baby completely, and they don't slip down during sleep (pinned flats or prefolds can). They are great to use with wool for the same reason. I highly recommend Green Mountain Diapers for buying the Coth-eez Workhouse Fitteds. You can buy them other places, but GMD always has them in stock. They are the best fitteds I've used; EcoPosh comes in close second, however.

Newborn or One Size? 

Many CD moms agree that newborn diapers are often a waste of money as their babies grow out of them within a month or two - some even less. My son wore his newborns until he was almost 5 months old, however. You simply can't tell if they'll be worth it or not. One Size (OS) diapers are the most common and usually fit babies 12-35 pounds, but this will depend a lot on how long and skinny (or short and chunky) your baby develops. My son was long and skinny, so he was wearing some of his newborns until he was about 15 pounds! He didn't truly grow into his OS diapers until around 17 pounds because his legs were so skinny.

This is one place where flats/prefolds and wool have the rest beat. A flat can be folded as small as necessary, and wool is stretchy and forgiving; my son's awkward size was a big reason I started using them in the first place. Plus, his newborn size wool longies were just too dang cute.

I highly recommend Smart Bottoms for newborn diapers. They are more expensive than other diaper brands, but they were my absolute favorite newborn diapers. They washed and dried well and are actually hand-sewn for a very high quality diaper. The elastic is encased inside the crotch of the diaper, a more unique design to them, which fit really well on my son as a newborn. I have a set of their OS diapers, too, but I prefer wool or pockets now. If a design you want is out of stock, try checking Nicki's Diapers (a general cloth diaper retailer with a great selection and good deals on a lot of diaper brands).

My second-best recommendation for newborn diapers is GroVia. They have hemp/cotton soakers attached to them (making them an AIO that washes more like an AI2, because the soaker isn't sewn completely down) that absorb quickly and absorb a LOT. The layer of microfleece on top helps keep baby's bottom dry even though they are sitting directly on the absorbency (soaker). They also have a "buttah" style, where the outside of the diaper is super soft velour that washes and dries well, stays soft and supple, and is really smooth and gentle against newborn baby skin!

For newborn babies with thicker thighs, I also recommend Lil' Joeys by KangaCare. These were great diapers, but they were an odd fit on my son, who was long and skinny. Even at 5 months, he had leg gaps in his Lil' Joeys, which are newborn diapers! Lil' Joeys also have a snap down for the umbilical cord, which is a nice feature - if you CD from day 1, you'll realize you need to account for the cord stump, and Lil' Joey's help you do that by having an extra snap in the front so you can snap some of the fabric down and make room for the stump. Smart Bottoms newborns don't have a snap down, but they do have a bit of fabric cut out of the belly area in a little dip to accommodate. GroVia newborns don't have this feature, but they do come down a bit lower than a standard diaper.

KangaCare is also one of the few shops that sells newborn covers (these are much harder to find than newborn AIOs). Thorin wore his newborn covers until 6 or 7 months old because they are expanding style (you can snap them down smaller or open the snaps, just like you can with a regular OS diaper). These are great when your kid is in a crazy diaper phase and you're trying to figure out the absorbency (which was about 9 months of my child's life!).

What about pants?? Cloth diapers are SO bulky!

Yes, they are. Like, really bulky. Cute, but bulky.

Most of us consider the cloth diapers cute enough to show off and just go pant free, but this isn't practical when it's cold, nor it is always acceptable in public. There are two types of pants I've found that many CD moms use. 

The first is a style of pant that I don't know the name of, but DoodlePants is one of the brands that makes them. DoodlePants can be kind of expensive, but they are the best quality ones I've purchased. If you browse around CD websites, you'll find off brands that make the same style of pant for less. You can also find DoodlePants on Zulily for $12-15 relatively often. This style of pant fits well over disposable or cloth diapers, so they are nice to have around if you go back and forth (and holy cow, they are SO cute).

The second style of pant I have never seen in a big brand, only handmade brands. They are called maxiloones (for the long pants) and shortiloones (for shorts). They are designed with a bubble butt panel to accommodate a fully stuffed cloth diaper, but they are also a "grow with me" design, so you'll likely only have to buy 2 sets and you'll have enough bottoms for your kiddo until they potty train. Thorin is still wearing his 9 month-3T size at 18 months and we haven't even unfolded the leg cuffs yet! They are usually made of cotton lycra and are incredibly stretchy. I only buy from Rose's Fabrics and Handmade, but if you're talented, you can buy the patterns off Etsy (just search for maxiloones patterns) and make your own. I like supporting Rose because she originally sold in CD groups on FB, which is where I found her. She grew her website over the last two years into what it is now, and I'm really excited about how she's expanded her business. She makes rompers, hoodies, and dresses now, too, all in the grow with me style. She does custom work and even designs her own fabrics. One of my favorite designs is her open butt (bum circle) design, so your kid can wear pants or shorts but also show off the cute design on the butt of their diaper!

How do I wash?

I hesitate to even address this matter as it is a HOT TOPIC among CD moms. But here are my two cents, take it or leave it.

I'm allergic to Tide, and I hate Tide, and I will never use Tide. I also think Tide stinks. You'll find that, for some reason, moms are OBSESSED with using Tide and claim that literally nothing else cleans your diapers. 

This is false.

I have used nothing but Rockin' Green Cloth Diaper detergent on my son's diapers since we started using them well over a year ago - and you know what? He still doesn't have rashes, my diapers don't stink, and no, I have never stripped them. Once every couple weeks, I add some bleach to the wash, but that's it. I only ever do that because I kept forgetting to do diaper laundry (because I'm pregnant again) and they sat around for like 5 days and they reek. I do a pre-wash with RG's ammonia bouncer and a second heavy duty wash with their cloth diaper detergent.

Am I trying to sell you on Rockin' Green? No. I'm trying to tell you that you can use whatever detergent you think works. If your baby doesn't have a rash and your diapers don't stink, you're probably washing them properly (at least, there's no reason to think you aren't). I do recommend, however, not doing what I do and forgetting to wash your diapers. Don't let them sit for more than two days, even if you just wash a small load. I also recommend using a hanging wet bag so there is some air flow in there - if you use a diaper pail, you're more likely to retain the smell and create a problem. I've used an open hanging wet bag in my son's nursery ever since we started and his nursery only stinks if my husband forgets to close the diaper pail (we use an Ubbi, by the way, which I highly recommend over the DiaperGenie for a lot of reasons - I've used DiaperGenies when I worked in a preschool and they always made the changing area stink, but the Ubbi works great as long as your husband closes it!).

*Update 2024*

I quit buying Rockin' Green a year and half ago out of laziness (we were saving for a house and I started buying cheaper detergent). I DID actually end up with a diaper problem using All! I have been struggling to get the "barnyard" smell out of our diapers ever since moving to our new house, with new water that is now high in iron and manganese instead of calcium, like our old house. What I want you to understand about cloth diapers is that you may luck out with a great wash routine right from the start (like I did), or you could end up with smell issues. Part of this is your detergent, part is your routine, part is your water, part is your kid's pee, and part is the material of the diapers themselves! Laundry is such a headache! Don't beat yourself up if you're struggling - just keep trying new things, keep working at it, and eventually you will get it right. As long as your kid isn't suffering with a rash, you are on the right track. If your kid IS struggling with a rash, first try changing the diaper more often - cloth diapers don't "dry" the skin like a disposable, so if you don't change them frequently enough, your kid will suffer a rash just from being wet. If you're changing diapers often, then it could be your wash routine, so search up "stripping" your diapers and try that while you take a cloth break. It's totally okay to take a break from cloth (even if you aren't having wash issues - if you're just a tired AF mom, it's ok to switch to disposables for a while).

There's also a lot of debate about drying your diapers. Many moms say don't. I do. My PUL covers aren't delaminating, even after over a year, and my inserts take FOREVER to dry if I let them do it naturally. I toss a few wool dryer balls in there, turn the dryer on low, and let them run for 2.5 hours (a setting on my dryer). It may not be the most economical or as environmentally friendly as hanging them up to dry, but I'm CDing for my son's butt, not for the planet or my wallet (definitely NOT for my wallet!). The fact I'm not buying disposables and filling a landfill with them is a bonus, and I use Rockin' Green because it doesn't bother my sensitive skin and it has appeared to work for the last two years on ALL our clothes, including the diapers.

*Update 2024*

We have a horrible dryer in our new house (we had a very nice set in our old house). I let my PUL covers dry naturally now just by setting them on top of the dryer, and I dry inserts and fitteds and all-in-ones on literally the only dry cycle that works on our dryer. Like I mentioned in my wash update, your dryer can drive you nuts, too. Experiment a little and do what works. If you have a wildly hot dryer, don't dry your covers (definitely never dry your wool!!). Our new dryer has beaten up my inserts a lot more and they now have some holes in the outer layers - but they still work just fine, so I don't really care.

What about cloth wipes?

We started using cloth wipes when Thorin was around 5 months old. We only use them for pee, but he pees a lot more than he poops. I save money not buying disposable wipes all the time (although I did have to pick that up when he went to daycare because we send disposable wipes to daycare). I keep a peri bottle of water by the changing table and wet a wipe before using it, then wash the wipes with the diapers. It works great, and we use disposables for poop. 

Overall, if you want to cloth diaper, you need to use what works for you and your family. There is no "wrong" way to cloth diaper unless you're using disposables and saying you're cloth diapering!

For more cloth diaper tips and reviews, I recommend Jay's Nest on YouTube. When I first started, I binge watched alllllllll of her videos and learned how to fit a diaper properly, what brands to try, and whether or not I should get newborns. She is also the reason I was tempted to start wool and flats. Check her out!