At the beginning of my pregnancy, I swore I would cloth diaper baby PB because I knew it would save a lot of money. After she was born when we tried a few Charlie Banana pocket diapers during her first few weeks and I was not impressed because it seemed like a lot of work and I worried about the upfront cost of the diapers since 6 diapers with only one insert each could easily run $120- I figured that would last about an hour with a newborn. I gave up quickly, deciding that I did not have time for cloth diapering and that I would find ways to save money on disposables.
Thankfully a friend showed me a method of cloth diapering that was much easier than pocket diapers or all in ones. She used a combination of waterproof diaper covers, and prefold cloth diapers.
When you use this system, cleaning diapers is so easy. If baby PB just pees, I simply change out the prefold and re-use the same cloth diaper cover. If PB poops, I can still reuse the cover as long as the poop is only on the prefold- otherwise I have to wash both. I don’t do anything to rinse pee diapers, I just put them in a wet bag in a tightly sealed trash can, poopy diapers get rinsed in the toilet before going in the wet bag unless the poop is solid enough that it just falls off of the prefold.
I tend to wash covers and prefolds ~3 times/week using about half of the laundry detergent that I would use on a normal load. I always wash with hot water, and sometimes they require an extra rinse- but most of the time the initial cycle is just fine. I only keep the cloth diaper covers and the wetbag in the dryer for ~10-15 minutes, anything longer can damage the elastic on the diaper covers. Prefolds will stay in the dryer until I have another load of laundry to combine them with since they take quite a bit longer to dry and I don’t want to waste a 70 minute dry cycle on such a small load of laundry. Finding another load of laundry to wash around here is never a problem! I also hang the diapers and prefolds on a clothesline when the weather is cooperating. The sun is great for bleaching out stains.
I tend to wash covers and prefolds ~3 times/week using about half of the laundry detergent that I would use on a normal load. I always wash with hot water, and sometimes they require an extra rinse- but most of the time the initial cycle is just fine. I only keep the cloth diaper covers and the wetbag in the dryer for ~10-15 minutes, anything longer can damage the elastic on the diaper covers. Prefolds will stay in the dryer until I have another load of laundry to combine them with since they take quite a bit longer to dry and I don’t want to waste a 70 minute dry cycle on such a small load of laundry. Finding another load of laundry to wash around here is never a problem! I also hang the diapers and prefolds on a clothesline when the weather is cooperating. The sun is great for bleaching out stains.
Types we own and love:
Kawaii Baby (snap and velcro)- very inexpensive and great quality. Snaps are great and durable but the velcro is quick and easy like a disposable.
Buttons: I only own one of these since they are a bit more expensive, but the quality and fit is great. We have an adorable little farm design.
Diaper Rite: These are the best quality covers I have found for the price, the only problem is they are frequently out of stock.
Thirsties: these are great quality! We own several newborn size and will probably be buying some one size fits all.
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