I’ve been surprised at how many of my friends have messaged me curious about cloth diapering. Seeing someone you know cloth diaper in combination with the current pandemic seems to have really opened people’s eyes. Today is a perfect day to discuss cloth diaper because it’s Earth Day and in the world of cloth diapering that means HUGE sales!
Why did we decide to cloth diaper?
I honestly don’t know where the idea of cloth diapering came from. I’ve always been a pretty thrifty person and I attempt to be as eco-friendly as possible. Plus, I like a challenge. Although now that we are in the trenches of cloth diapering I wouldn’t describe it as a challenge. Ultimately, our decision stemmed from cost and sustainability.
What are the benefits of cloth diapering?
- Cost
Cloth diapers are more cost-efficient than disposables. Most people purchase disposables as they go so they pay maybe $100 a month. Our cloth diaper set-up costs were about $300 but in about four months we would break even. Over the span of the few years JJ is in diapers we will have saved at least a grand! - Sustainability
You don’t throw cloth diapers in the trash. You create less waste when using cloth and cloth diapers can be reused from kid to kid, family to family. You can resell cloth diapers which lowers the cost to cloth diaper and is better for the environment. - Cuteness factor
Cloth diapers come in a variety of colors and prints. It makes changing a poopy diaper a little fun!
- Better for the bum
Disposable diapers are created with many harsh chemicals. Do you have a sensitive baby? Give cloth a try! So far JJ hasn’t had a single diaper rash, we’ve only used diaper cream once. We’re two months into cloth diapering but many moms say cloth diapering has reduced their baby’s diaper rash. - Lower chance of blowouts
Again, we’re only two months into cloth diapering but we’ve had just one blowout. And guess what? That blowout was while JJ was still in leftover disposables provided during our hospital stay.
What are the drawbacks of cloth diapering?
- Learning curve
Disposable diapers are more common and people are more familiar with them. Cloth diapers are not rocket science but the types of diapers, style of inserts and snaps can all be a little confusing. There is a learning curve with cloth diapering but it’s no different than the learning curve of parenting. There are so many great Facebook groups to answer questions, share advice and help troubleshoot.
These are some of the Facebook groups I am in Cloth Diapering Mamas, Cloth Diapers for Beginners and Fluff Love & CD Science. There is varying information in these groups and across the board in the cloth diapering community. Just like parenthood, what works for one person may not work for another. There are also additional groups specifically for wash routines, cloth diaper sewing, buy-sell-trade groups and more. - More laundry
We wash our diapers every 2-3 days but honestly, you’re going to be doing a lot of baby laundry anyway- especially if you use disposables and constantly have blowouts. I will do a more in-depth post about our wash routine but I’ll address a few things here. We exclusively breastfeed right now so JJ’s poop is completely water-soluble which means we do not rinse the diapers. They go from his butt to the wet bag to the washing machine. Breastfeed poop does stain, which even if you use disposable diapers you’ve experienced, but all you have to do is wet the diaper and set it out in the sun to lift the stain.
Before 
After - Higher upfront cost
A cloth diaper ranges in price from about $5-27 apiece. The $5 diapers are just as good as the $27 diapers. The reason most people pay more for a cloth diaper is for the fun print. Below I break down our start-up costs of about $300. Cloth diapering costs more money out of pocket in the beginning. If you know you’re going to cloth diaper you can add diapers to your registry. You can even still do the typical baby shower games like a diaper raffle! In another post, I will share a few options for families who may not be able to afford cloth diapering. - Potential daycare limitations
Similar to above, if you know you’re going to cloth diaper in advance it makes selecting a daycare that supports your cloth diaper decision easier. We toured two daycares and one of them would cloth diaper, one wouldn’t. We chose the daycare that would cloth diaper. I understand not everyone may have the opportunity to be selective with daycares, some states may not allow cloth diapering at daycare, you may use a nanny or family member as childcare who isn’t on board but even parttime cloth diapering may be better financially and environmentally.
What we bought to start our cloth journey
- Mama Koala Pocket Diapers 6-pack (Happy Time), $24*
- Mama Koala Pocket Diapers 6-pack (Yummy Fest), $28*
- LBB Pocket Diapers 6-pack, $27*
- Two large wet bags, $17
These are attached to our changing table by command hooks and are where we store the dirty diapers until wash day. - Two small wet bags, $8
We take these wet bags out with us when we travel in our diaper bag. - Hemp inserts 6-pack, $30
Hemp is a “doubler” we pair with the microfiber inserts most diapers come with for more absorbency during naps and nighttime when we may not change JJ’s diaper every two hours.
I purchased Happy Endings Hemp inserts but can’t seem to find them on amazon currently. Here‘s an alternative. - Bamboo inserts 10-pack, $27
Bamboo is also a “doubler” like hemp above. Hemp and bamboo are also natural fibers which require more preparation in order to reach their optimal absorbency. All this means is you need to wash these inserts around 8-10 times for them to work best. We only washed them three times before we started using them. Bamboo inserts do typically shrink considerably but you will see that when you order them they appear very large, they shrink to the same size as a typical microfiber insert. - Lil Helper Trial Diaper, $10
It’s recommended to have different types and brands of cloth diapers to see which you like best. Lil Helper offers a cloth diaper with two inserts for $9.99. The deal also includes free shipping. - T-Diapers Pocket Diapers 6-pack, $20*
I can’t find the exact link for the diaper pack I ordered but here is a link for one diaper from this brand. LBB, T-Diapers and AlvaBaby are all the same brand. AlvaBaby has a ton of alternate named diapers out on the market. Usually, it is most cost-effective to purchase the diapers directly from their website. You can select which specific colors/patterns you want, the type of inserts and it’s cheaper. I was able to buy the T-Diapers and LBB branded AlvaBabys on amazon during a sale plus use my baby registry completion discount. I’ve also heard that diapers directly ordered from AlvaBaby are shipping out slower due to the pandemic(they come from China). - Burt’s Bees Multipurpose Ointment (Cloth diaper safe), $9
- Used Lil Joey Newborn AIO(all-in-one) Cloth Diapers(17), $60
- An assortment of used cloth wipes, diapers and inserts, $50
I bought a few covers and fitted cloth diapers(You use these together. They are great for naps or nighttime. You can reuse the cover if your baby only peed in the fitted cloth diaper. Just wipe out the cover and put it over a new fitted cloth diaper.), bumGenius pocket diapers and cloth wipes.
*Bought during a sale
So far I’ve spent $310 on start-up cloth diaper costs.
How does the cost of cloth diapering compare to disposable diapers?
Let’s say you buy 198 Size 1 Pampers for $43.29 from Amazon. That breaks down to $0.22 a diaper. You use 10 diapers a day which costs $2.20, multiply that by 30 days and you’re spending $66 a month. If you spend $300 on cloth diapers you’ll break even in about four months. That doesn’t include the cost of disposable wipes or how much you’ll spend to wash cloth diapers but you can quickly see a cost comparison.
How many cloth diapers do we have?
I have about 30-35 cloth diapers, most of them pocket diapers. We use around 10 diapers a day right now which means we do diaper laundry about every 2-3 days. The large wet bag I listed above can hold about 30-35 diapers. The more diapers you have, the more days you can go between washes. Most people who cloth diaper recommend washing every 2-3 days. Going longer will likely create more than one load of diaper laundry and the longer you go between washes the more your wet bag will stink.
We also use cloth wipes. We’re already doing diaper laundry so it didn’t make much sense to use disposable wipes. When we change JJ we toss the diaper, insert and wipe straight into the wet bag. We don’t have to worry about separating a disposable wipe from the cloth diaper, throwing one in the trash and the other in the wet bag. I store our cloth wipes in an old disposable wipe container and I fold them so they come out just like disposable wipes would. We store the cloth wipes dry and use a peri bottle of water to squirt on them for messy diapers.
Did we cloth diaper from birth?
Basically! Our hospital provided disposable diapers during our stay and we chose to take advantage of that perk while we were there. We took the rest of the pack home with us which was about 20 diapers. Many families who cloth diaper use disposables for the first week or so for a few reasons including ease and meconium. Meconium will stain cloth diapers but you can use a cloth diaper liner to protect your diaper. If you have a baby boy and chose to get him circumcised you’ll either need to use liners or disposables since petroleum jelly can damage the PUL(Polyurethane Laminate fabric, what makes a cloth diaper waterproof). By the time we ran out of disposables JJ’s circumcision was healed so we didn’t need to use liners. We will most likely use liners when JJ begins eating solids or if we need to use formula since those will stain cloth diapers. You can buy disposable liners that I listed above or cut up fleece blankets to create reusable liners.
We used newborn AIO cloth diapers for the first few weeks. These are the most similar to disposables because the diaper is only one component. They are a little easier to use but they take longer to dry. We switched JJ to OS(one size) cloth diapers at about 3 weeks because he had outgrown the fit of a newborn diaper and the absorbency.
Do baby clothes fit over a cloth diaper?
I have never really used disposable diapers so I don’t know how to compare the bulkiness of cloth versus disposable but apparently cloth diapers are bulkier. Some people size up their baby’s clothes to fit over a cloth diaper. A lot of people recommended onesie extenders; I actually just added these to my amazon cart. Only recently have we noticed JJ’s onesies being a little snug but I think it’s more the fact my child is growing like a weed. I’ve left a few of his onesies unsnapped and tucked them into his pants with no problem. We’ve been putting JJ in a lot of legging type pants which have more give to them than jeans and seem to fit the cloth diapers just fine. Some other recommendations for clothing over cloth diapers are harem pants, thigh-high socks and maxaloone pants. We haven’t personally tried any of those yet.
There is so much I could share about our cloth diaper journey. I have really enjoyed using cloth diapers so far and love to see so many people curious to learn about the process. Check back for a post on our wash routine and some cloth diaper options for families who think they can’t afford to cloth diaper. I have created a highlight on my Instagram with some additional cloth diapering information.
What questions do you still have about cloth diapering? Let me know!
Interested in getting started? Shop Mama Koala diapers through this link to save 10%!
