Cloth Diapering for Beginners

If you are at a complete loss as to where to begin with cloth diapering, I can only hope that my guideline will be easy for you to understand. I remember being interesting in cloth diapering. All the information I read was extremely overwhelming and even discouraging. I have been cloth diapering for a year and a half now with two babies, and am extremely pleased that I stuck with it. Before throwing in the towel, read my guide and feel hopeful. Soon you'll be a cloth diapering expert, confident in your skills and confident in using cloth diapers on your children!

Something important to keep in mind is that cloth diapering, at first, can be a little expensive. But the expense that you pay now is an expense you will not have to worry about in the future. According to http://www.realdiaperassociation.org/diaperfacts.php, "...the average child will cost about $1,600 to diaper for two years in disposable diapers, or about $66 a month." That's for one child. Two children is therefore an approximation of $3,200. Three children is $4,800. You get the idea. And the sad part is, the disposable diapers are not only going to end up in a landfill somewhere, accumulating, they're also not even that absorbent! You have to change them very frequently, and they leak and soak through if you aren't paying attention. The point here is this: Don't let the initial cost scare you away.

To make cloth diapering easy, I use mostly one website: www.cottonbabies.com. Most of what you need for cloth diapering is there! On www.cottonbabies.com, go under "Diapering" and then "BumGenius". BumGenius 3.0 diapers are excellent and I went with them because of an overwhelming report of good reviews from various websites. They are customizable as far as absorbency goes. I love the One Size's because they fit a baby from 7 lbs all the way to 35 pounds. I love the All in One's because they are for light use during the day and don't require stuffing.

The beauty about using BumGenius 3.0 cloth diapers is that they work just like an ordinary disposable diaper. You don't need diaper covers for them. You don't need to know how to fold origami to put the baby's diaper on. You don't need pins. It's straight forward.

Oh www.cottonbabies.com, begin by ordering 2 of the "BumGenius 3.0 One Size 12 Packs". This will give you a total of 24 diapers, which is an excellent amount to begin with. You can look into the All in One's, but these comes in different sizes and could turn out to be more expensive in the long run. I only bought a 12 pack of All in One's for my daughter who is 22 lbs so she can use during the day. They are a bit more roomier for her and I don't have to stuff them. But this is something I did after my daughter hit one year of age. It's not something you *have* to do right now. Right now, just focus on the One Size's.

Once you add two "BumGenious 3.0 One Size 12 Packs" to your cart, you can choose what colors you want! I went with a bit of everything. Both my son and daughter use both the 'boy' and 'girl' colors. It doesn't really matter, but color is always fun! After you add this to your cart, go to "For Home" on the left hand side, and then go to "Natural Laundry." To wash cloth diapers, you need a good, healthy detergent free of additives. You can find a list here of what you can use, should use, and should avoid like the plague: http://www.diaperjungle.com/detergent-chart.html. But for now, just get Allen's Naturally detergent. Learning how to wash BumGenius 3.0 cloth diapers is a bit of a trial and error experience. The diapers themselves come with instructions, however, on how to wash them. (To wash diapers, you may also want to get a bottle of the blue Dawn liquid Detergent. This is used for stripping diapers. Stripping diapers is the process used to remove built up soap and oils on the diapers that could cause leaking and stink.)

Something important to have, at least for me, is maybe 3 or 4 wet bags. On the cottonbabies.com website, you can find these under "Diapering" and "Diaper Accessories". Toward the bottom, you'll see Planet Wise Reusable Wetbags. I LOVE these. The largest size fit's a lot of diapers, and the zipper keeps the stink and diapers in. I used to use a trash can with a lid, and I would put the diapers in a large laundry bag that was fitten in the trash can, but during the summer, we had a lot of flies and fruit flies, and they found their way in the trash can's lid, and laid eggs in the cloth diapers! The larvae and maggots were pretty traumatizing to me, so I went with wet bags because the summer flies can't get in those! But if you have no flies, a simple trash can with a flip lid and a liner (be it an oversized laundry bag or a trash bag liner) work just fine. Under Diaper Accessories, Cottonbabies.com sells a lot of liner options. So you can either go with the wet bags, or opt for some of these washable liners, or even just a trash bag. It's entirely up to you!

If you are into using cloth baby wipes, cottonbabies.com provides those too under "Diapering" and "Baby Wipes". You can find recipes for baby wipe solutions online. I don't use these myself, so I can't claim to be an expert. But it's very straight forward. Buy a bunch of cloth baby wipes, have a solution in a spray bottle, and clean that baby's bottom! It's trial and error, like everything else. If you see a rash or reaction developing on the baby, try to find out what ingredient is causing it and try a new recipe and/or solution.

Something I highly recommend, and you can find it under Diaper Accessories, is liners! Liners are so, so important. Not only do they catch most of the waste that your baby produces, they prevent stains forming on diapers, and they also prevent any medicinal products from permeating and negatively affecting the diapers. Most diaper rash medicines and pastes, over the counter and prescription, will leave a residue on the fibers of the diapers that will make them repellent and will cause leaks! The liners prevent this. We have used the Bummi's Bio Soft liners, the Imse Flushable liners, all kinds. Don't buy many rolls at once. Just buy one aat a time to see what you like and what works with the baby. They are supposedly flushable but I think this is highly dependent on your sewage system and toilets. For older homes, I wouldn't recommend flushing these. They are pretty thick. If you don't want to use liners, and are okay with scraping poop off the diaper, but still want to prevent rashes and irritation on baby's bottom, there is an excellent, great, wonderful diaper rash product called "Magic Stick." You can find it at: http://www.thenaturalbabyco.com/magic-stick-all-natural-diaper-ointment-p-716.html

It is organic! It does not clog the diaper liners. It can be applied directly to the baby's bum without using your hands. A little goes a long way. It is a fantastic product that I highly recommend.

Other than a working washer and dryer, that's pretty much all you need! If you have some extra to spend, you can always buy extra liners under the "Diapers" and "Pocket Inserts" tab on the left of cottonbabies.com. I did buy some double liners to use at night. They absorb a lot! You can buy wet bags for on the go situations. As the child gets older, and learns how to undo the diaper velcro, you might want to just cover up the diaper with pants, or some cute bloomers to discourage this. But pretty soon, you'll be the proud parents of a sweet, cloth diaper wearing baby with a huge baby cloth diaper butt! Most pants that are your baby's size won't fit with the cloth diapers. You'll always need to go up a few sizes to accommodate, but it's not a big deal. BumGenius 3.0 cloth diapers are great for the environment, chemical free, and so wonderful for the baby and the world in general. Have fun being a cloth diapering parent! May your days be filled with bubbling baby smiles and fresh smelling (or dirty!) cloth diapers!