Cloth Diapering 101: Our Experience, Pros + Cons, and Essentials for Success
Hello, hello, my friend!
As you may know, we recently welcomed our sweet boy, Miles Oliver, into our lives. Life with a newborn is beautiful! sleepy! challenging! incredible! peaceful! stressful! all the things!
and while we alllll have our own unique experiences in motherhood, there is ONE THING we have in common.
our babies… are going to….
poop themselves.
hahahaha.
diapers— let’s talk about it
Because, yes, no matter what “type” of baby you have— sweet as a button, or fussy, a good sleeper, a bad sleeper, or a somewhere-in-between sleeper, a cuddler, or an independent little soul….
the one common thread is… you are going to need diapers.
so let’s talk about it.
Because, while there are a lot of options out there, you may remember from my holistic baby registry, that Adam and I decided to go with cloth diapers for Miles.
OOF. this was a big choice—
because we know there are obviously many pros to disposable diapers. They’re easier to use, you don’t have to do laundry, it’s one and done, etc., but for us?
The many, mannnyyyyy pros of cloth diapers DID outweigh the cons.
To be completely honest, I thought using cloth diapers was just something I was going to kind of….. suffer through, for lack of a better word.
I wasn’t necessarily giddy about using cloth— I knew it would add laundry, I knew it would require some planning, I knew it wouldn’t always be the most convenient, etc.
Because when I looked at the LOGIC (environment impact, most cost-effective, nontoxic materials, etc.), I just felt like using cloth diapers was just kind of something I “should” do.
…Like, I knew it made sense to do, but I didn’t think I’d necessarily like it, ya know?
but honestly, 3 months in, and I *genuinely* have loved using cloth diapers and I am so happy I decided to go for it.
In this post, I’m going to tell you my honest experience using cloth diapers, why we chose them, how we do it, and a peek behind the scenes. I was kind of surprised– but this is something a lot of you have expressed interest in, DM’d me about, asked questions, etc., so I thought I’d do a full round-up!
I was soooo intimidated by cloth diapers before I started, but I’ve had a really positive experience, and I just kind of want to tell you our honest thoughts (and tangible tips) on all things cloth diapers…
so let’s get into it!
why we chose cloth diapers
They’re sustainable. First and foremost, cloth diapers are a more sustainable option than single use diapers. Every time I use a cloth diaper I have a thought of “Oh this is one less diaper going to the landfill,” which means a lot to me (and is weirdly motivating!). On a more micro-level, they also create less waste for our household— no constant trips to take the garbage out for us!
They save money. While there IS an upfront investment for cloth diapers, as all parents know, disposable diapers are quite expensive over TIME since you go through them so quickly. While cloth diapers are more of an up-front investment, ultimately it saves a lot of money to use cloth over time. (While I’m not sure if this is true… i’ve seen a stat that using cloth diapers can save parents $2000 per baby)
They’re organic & gentle. One of the biggest selling points for us was that you can get cloth diapers with clean, organic fabric. A lot of single-use diapers are full of toxic chemicals which can be irritating to baby’s bottom. The brand we use is organic cotton so it’s suuuuuper gentle, and Miles has had like zero diaper rash. Another check mark in the “pros” list for cloth!
They work SO well. If you’re reading this post I’m going to assume there’s no such thing as TMI, so I’ll just go ahead and say: we’ve found that the cloth diapers hold pee and poop in SO much better than the disposable diapers we’ve used. So not only are they great in all of these other ways, they actually WORK!
They may help potty train quicker?!: Did you know the average age of potty training has increased over the last few decades? Kids are getting older & older before learning to use the potty. While there are many potential factors for that, one thought is that disposable diapers are sooo good (almost, too good) at wicking away moisture from baby’s bottoms so it’s more difficult for babies to correlate their peeing with that uncomfortable wet feeling. There is thought that cloth diaper helps babies potty train more quickly because when they pee they are wet & learn to correlate that feeling with the need to go to the bathroom!
Out of diapers? No sweat.: Okay, hot take, but in these wild newborn days, it can feel STRESSFUL when you realize you are almost out of diapers. With disposable diapers, I would have to get my baby dressed, load him in the carseat, drive to the store, find the diapers, check out, drive home, unload the carseat, etc. For me, it feels wayyyyy less burdensome to just do a load of laundry when I’m “out” of cloth diapers than having to run a full-blown errand. For me, i have LOVED that a new “stock” of clean diapers is only a load of laundry away!
They can be used in the future! Another benefit of cloth diapers is that we can use them for our future kids as well! I love knowing that we made a one-time investment that we can keep using and will save us even more money in the long run. (not to mention, cloth diapers have a PHENOMENAL re-sale value. yes, really.)
cons of cloth diapers:
they are a bit bulkier: just the nature of cloth fabric, the diapers are a bit bulkier than disposable options. this padding in the booty can be tricky to fit little baby pants over, ha! It’s not a big deal at all… but cloth diapers do give a little #junkinthetrunk
they require water/electricity to launder: We all know that disposable diapers create waste— in fact they estimate that diapers alone contribute 3.6 million tons of landfill waste every year. (yikes). While cloth diapers aren't perfect from a sustainability standpoint either (more laundry requires more energy and water waste), it still felt like the “better” option to me. From an environmental perspective, neither option is 100% perfect; so just pick the one that feels best to you.
they aren’t as easy on the go: this one is obvious, but cloth can be a bit tricky when you aren’t at home because you can’t just throw it away like a normal diaper… We personally just opt to use disposable diapers when we are out of the house (more on that below), but if you wanted to use cloth out-and-about, you CAN. very easily, in fact! just get a “wet bag” to transport any soiled diapers.
you will have to do more laundry: I mean, duh. But a definite con. As someone who HATES laundry, this is what I was most nervous about. You will be doing more laundry with cloth… but it may not be as much as you think. We only do 2-3 more loads of laundry per week to have unlimited diapers! Personally, this has NOT been as bad as I anticipated.
you have to be somewhat “on top of it”: going off the previous one, it can take a little bit to figure out your rhythm of laundry. at the beginning, we would forget to wash the diapers and run out of clean cloth diapers in between loads. After a few weeks, we got into a really natural, effortless rhythm, and doing the diaper laundry is just second nature. But it is an adjustment at the beginning!
location does matter: while we have a home with a separate laundry room, soaking tub, etc., I know that’s not everyone’s living situation! I do think cloth diapering would be really tricky if you didn’t have accessible access to laundry in your immediate living environment! (there are cloth diapering services if you are really set on it, but just saying I think it would be VERY hard if you had a community washer/dryer, needed to use a laundry mat, etc.)
there is an up-front cost: while disposable diapers are more expensive overall, the cost is spread out over time. with cloth diapers, there is more of an up-front investment. again, it’s less total money in the end, but you do have to invest up-front!
there are 90843209834 different cloth diapers out there (and here’s the specific ones we chose…)
I did sooooo much research before picking a brand of cloth diapers (because it is an investment), and there are SO. MANY. CHOICES.
You can do pocket diapers, foldable diapers, all-in-ones, velcrow, blah, blah, blah.
It was MIND-NUMBING to go through all the options, but once I weighed all the pros & cons, I ultimately felt most excited about Esembly cloth diapers!
I feel silly even saying this, but they’re like the trendiest cloth diapers around — they are SO cute and SO easy to use.
The reason we chose them is because they have a snap button closure (both easy and super secure), and they’re sold as “inners” and “outers” which are VERY good at preventing blow-outs. The inner is what catches the waste, and the outer is what protects it from Miles’ clothes and keeps it alllllll in. annnnnd, being a #nontoxicqueen, the cotton they use is GOTS certified organic cotton & the outers are made of post-consumer recycled bottles!
Esembly is a women-owned small business, and they’ve done a really good job at making cloth diapering more modern, more easy (and more cute! I mean…. JUST LOOK AT THOSE FABRIC PATTERNS).
Basically… these aren’t your momma’s cloth diapers. (Like, literally. My mom did use cloth diapers with my brother and she was for real blown away when she saw how easy ours are! #GrandmaApproved)
I ended up liking them so much I reached out to their co-founders (Hiii, Marta!), and they were nice enough to share an affiliate coupon for you guys! Enter KATE15 for 15% off all Esembly goodies :)
If you’re curious, we went with 20 inners and 4 outers and that has been a good amount for us. (we are having to do a load of laundry every 2ish days).
Long story short— after A LOT of research, we went with Esembly cloth diapers, and I am so, so happy with it. Save 15% with the code KATE15 !
(by the way this isn’t sponsored at all— just sharing this brand with my affiliate link because I TRULY love them!)
how we personally use cloth diapers (pssst: you don’t have to be “perfect”)
One thing I’ll start by saying is that we are NOT trying to be perfect or super rigid with our cloth diapering.
If we’re traveling or going to our parents’ for the day or even out to eat we will use disposable in those scenarios because it’s just easier and we don’t have to worry about carrying dirty cloth diapers around, etc.
A lot of people in the cloth diapering community make it seem like you HAVE to be “all in”... but that just feels too constrictive to me!
So, we use cloth 95% of the time (always when we are at home), and then use disposable when we are out & about! This mix feels really freeing– and you kind of get the best of both worlds :) We end up buying about 1 small pack of diapers every 2 months or so and just use them gradually as needed when we are out and about.
Even though we don’t use cloth diapers 100000% of the time, ultimately we still find peace in knowing that every cloth diaper we use is one less disposable in the landfill and we’re doing the best we can! At this rate, we average using about 2 disposable diapers per week… so hardly anything!
Since we’re doing a combo I DO feel qualified to speak on the effectiveness of cloth (as noted in the “pros” list!). The cloth diapers genuinely hold in mess sooooo much better than disposable ones. Even though they are objectively easier when in public, we now get so annoyed at how much disposable leak & dirty outfits whenever we use them, hahahaha. In my opinion, cloth really do just work better!
but, Kate, what about the laundry???
Okay, so, LOGICALLY you know cloth diapers make sense…
but you’re worried about the laundry. I get it. Because I was too.
So, let’s get into it.
The fact is, cloth diapers do require more work than simply tossing a disposable into the trash, and I’m not going to pretend they are the right choice for every family!
…but, for many of us, it may not be as much laundry as you are expecting.
Currently, we do 1 load of cloth diaper laundry every 2ish days!
HOW IT WORKS:
When we change Miles, we take his soiled “inner” diaper layer and throw that in our diaper pail with a laundry bag liner. It just stays there until we do laundry. You don’t have to rinse it or anything right away when they’re in this newborn, breastfeeding era. Basically when the baby is breastfeeding the poop is water soluble, so you can just throw it in the wash and you don’t have to pre-rinse it or anything (but you can! We often do!).
When the baby starts eating solid food or uses formula, the poop is no longer water-soluble so you DO have to rinse it before the wash (we haven’t had to deal with this yet– so I’ll report back with tips!).
So, the inner just goes straight in the diaper pail (literally just like you would toss a disposable diaper). And the outer can be used again (it often doesn’t get soiled/wet at all), or it can be left out to dry if it is a little damp. When the outer gets soiled or has been used a few times, then we throw it in the diaper pail with everything else!
We DO use cloth wipes for Miles’ bottom (you don’t *have* to use cloth wipes. we actually started with disposable wipes and switched to cloth because we found it easier! and cheaper!). So we just toss cloth wipes those in the laundry pail as well :) For those curious, we use Esembly wipes (just because I was already buying everything from them, but you can do anything here!)
When it’s time for laundry, we will soak all the diapers & cloth wipes in Branch Basics oxygen boost (not to be dramatic, but this specific cleanser is crucial) to help loosen things and get stains out.
Once we soak/do a pre-wash cycle, then we’ll do a wash cycle on hot with Esembly’s diaper wash powder.
After that soak & wash cycle, we put the inners in the dryer and hang dry the outers.
don’t overcomplicate it! When I was debating doing cloth diapers, I felt SO overwhelmed. When I’d read forums & advice, people made it sound so…. complicated.
But, when ya boil it down, at the end of the day… it’s just laundry.
*sigh of relief*
isn’t it… gross?
Honestly, no.
Granted, you are talking to a nurse (you think changing baby’s diapers is gross? adult diapers are where the REAL challenge is, my friend.)
But, jokes aside, cloth diapers REALLY aren’t that different from changing a disposable diaper.
Are you still going to see poop? yes. Are you still going to have a soaking wet diaper? yes. are changing diapers the most ~fun~ thing ever in general? no.
But it’s really not that different— you still take it off the same, roll it up in a ball the same, throw it in the pail the same, it’s just… you do laundry with it.
So, sure, you have to interact with the diapers more (laundering, drying, folding, etc.). But is it significantly grosser? No, not really.
our diaper changing station:
You change cloth just like any other ol’ diaper! We have a keekaroo changing pad, his wipes, diaper balm, etc. all in one place!
We store our diapers in this adorable bin from Gathre and have our inners there (love that it has a handle so we can move it around the house if we do diaper changes in other rooms).
For wipes we just use cloth wipes and we have a jar on the changing table with water and a drop of castile soap. We soak the cloth wipes in there and then just reach in the jar to grab one whenever we need to wipe his bottom. I loooooove that this method 1) saves money (no need to buy ANY wipes), 2) uses minimal ingredients and 3) is gentle on his skin. And then we just throw those used cloth wipes in the diaper pail with dirty diapers and wash them all at once.
“extra” items for easier cloth diapering: I am having trouble linking specifically to these items, but I basically stocked up on a lot of esembly’s “extra” products (like the cloth diaper laundry bag, laundry detergent, cloth wipes, agitators, etc.) to help make my cloth diapering experience a lot more seamless!. Reminder that my affiliate coupon 20KATE will save ya some money on all of these! :)
For baby’s bottom we use Primally Pure’s Baby Balm. If you’ve been around for awhile you know I’ve used this stuff for EVERYTHING looooooong before we had Miles, but can I just say it’s also amazing when used for what it’s actually intended for???? Works so well, soothing to his skin, anti inflammatory properties, and his bottom looks great! (pssst: you might as well just get the whole baby collection while you’re there. this nontoxic skincare set is all we use on Miles’ skin, and it works SO well!)
For our diaper pail we use this pail (super durable and holds in any odor well), lined with the Esembly laundry bag. When it’s time to do laundry, just pull out your pail liner and flip it inside out to throw your dirty diapers in the wash without you even having to even touch them.
And that’s pretty much it for the products we use for diapering! t’s very simple!
rapid fire cloth diaper pro tips:
general rule of thumb for washing them: do 1 soak (or pre-wash), 1 wash cycle, and dry. That’s it!
buying 20-30 diapers should be a good amount! (this results in doing one load every 2-3 days)
If your laundry has a setting for “heavily soiled” do that!
If you can customize water level on your washing machine, do the HIGHEST level of water. for example we always put our washer load size on “large” even though there are just the diapers in there
I don’t want to say it’s a must, buuuuuut it’s kind of a must. Doing a soak (or pre-wash) with the branch basics oxygen boost before the wash cycle is SO GAME-CHANGING for getting the diapers super duper clean. This has always been my secret weapon for a nontoxic stain remover for all of our laundry, but my obsession is taken to the next level after seeing how well it works on the cloth diapers. Just throw the dirty diapers in a soak with a scoop of the oxygen boost, let it soak (for at least an hour), and then do your wash cycle with detergent. It TRULY makes such a difference to do an oxygen boost soak before. (Reminder that you can save on ALL branch basics “kits” with the code THEFOUNDATIONBLOG)
We don’t wash the outer layer after every use (only if it gets a little damp). Instead, we wash the INNER after every use– but use the outer for approximately one full day (unless it gets soiled, obviously)
there ARE different sizes to cloth diapers— some brands would make you restock on different sizes like 4+ times… noooo thank you! I chose Esembly because there are only TWO sizes that manage to fit your kid from newborn… to 30+ pounds!
having leaks with your cloth diapers? Make sure the inner fabric is tucked in everywhere and not “sticking out” of the outer layer. If that happens there will be leaks! Just run your finger around the waist/leg holes and tuck in any inner fabric (this is super easy, but makes a WORLD of difference in holding it allllllll in)
use disposable for the first few weeks! At first, our cloth diapers were too big for Miles, and as we were just adjusting to newborn life we didn’t want to have to worry about cloth right away as we were adjusting to ALL THE THINGS parenthood. So we went into it knowing we’d use disposable for the first few weeks of his life while he grew and while we adjusted to parenthood. then, once he passed the 10-pound threshold and we felt more settled in our routine we introduced the cloth diapers, and it’s been great ever since. We are SO happy we took those few weeks to just use disposable and just ease in! My friend who cloth diapers recommended that, and we thought it worked great :)
If your baby is having solids or formula and their poops are not water-soluble, you may want a diaper sprayer! You can attach it easily to the toilet, and it allows you to get almost all the poop off before washing.
When Miles is a bit bigger, we will buy like 5-10 “all-in-one” diapers to supplement his esembly diapers. this brand of all-in-ones are bit more thin, and only one layer. (However, they only work when the babe is a bit bigger!). get their name from the fact that they provide both an absorbent layer and a waterproof outer shell all in one piece. (Picture basically an all-cloth version of disposables.) These are a bit more spendy, so we don’t want them to be his primary form of diapering— but just a quick option when needed!
UPDATE: we did buy those all in one^^ above & really like them! The buttons aren’t the easiest to latch, but I do like that they are one layer and a bit thinner! We use these supplementary :) We also received some “diaper bum” brand from a friend of Adam’s and REALLY like those too! While I would say Esembly are the cutest AND the most leak-proof (in my opinion, they are lots of great brands out there :)
We use a laundry bag inside our diaper pial. Why? you can easily pull out your pail liner and flip it inside out to throw your dirty diapers in the wash without you even having to even physically touch them.
If you DO want to use cloth diapers when out & about (go you!), you will need to buy a “wet bag” to old soiled diapers on the go! This seems super easy– but again, we just opt for disposable when we are out of the house :) Everyone can do their own thing!
The “overnighters” liner help give an absorbancy boost for long stretches of sleeping at night!
The “tosser” liners can help when your baby starts eating solid foods so that you don’t have to rinse the poop (we haven’t used these yet as Miles is still exclusively breastfeeding)
I would use cloth wipes (instead of disposable ones). We were using cloth diapers & disposable wipes for a while– and it was so annoying! The diapers had to go in the hamper and the wipes had to go in the garbage, had to keep them separate, etc. It’s SO much easier just to use cloth wipes so you can throw them in the hamper with the cloth diapers and just wash them all at once! (Despite what you may think, you do NOT need a fancy wipe solution. Plain ole’ water works juuuuust fine.)
My biggest advice? don’t overcomplicate it! When I was debating doing cloth diapers, I felt SO overwhelmed. When I’d read forums & advice, people made it sound so…. complicated. but, really… at the end of the day, it’s just laundry.
the “bottom” line (ha!)
After doing cloth diapering for a few months, I have zero regrets. Is it annoying to have an extra load of laundry every other day? Sure.
But it’s really not that bad at all— and saves so much money, and environmental waste, and functions better. The cloth diapers work better than disposables so that’s motivating as well.
The way I see it— I’d rather invest upfront one time and have diapers for ALL of our kids, then repeatedly buy single-use diapers for the foreseeable future.
I love that they’re good for the environment, save money, and are gentle on his skin.
I’ll end by saying that it’s important to go into this with a realistic attitude. Are you going to LOVE every moment of cloth diapering? probably not. But there are so many benefits, and you can decide if a few extra loads of laundry are worth it for your fam :)
For us, we have been SO happy with our decision to cloth, and I just wanted to share an honest [realistic] experience!
XX,
Kate
PSS: Also, if it wasn’t already clear, I put a lot of thought into everything I bought for our baby. If you want ALL the deets, you can check out my holistic baby registry here!
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