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I’ve been using cloth diapers since Emma was nine or ten months old, and and after four kids and six years’ worth of experimentation I’ve finally found a solution that works really well for us – day and night! After trying nearly every kind of cloth diaper available (pockets, all-in-ones, prefolds, flats, velcro, snaps) and every material apart from wool (irritates my skin, so I’m loathe to try it on my babies) here’s what works for me:
- Thirsties Duo Wrap Snap covers. These neither leak nor blow out on me. You have to buy two different sizes, but if you do you’re set from birth to potty training.
- OsoCozyBirdseye Flat Unbleached Diapers. These are a great size, soft, and very absorbent – and they wash up great. They will shrink down to a slightly rectangular fold after washing (just because all fabric shrinks more in one direction than the other, and these are, apparently, not pre-shrunk), but I actually find that the rectangular shape works well for me – I use the origami fold.
- Cloth wipes – I make my own, and have a cloth baby wipes tutorial on this blog
- California Baby Diaper Area Wash.
- Kitchen-size trash can
- Two Kissa’s Pail Liners – although I saw a Kanga Care Wet Bag at a friend’s house and loved that that design didn’t require a trash can, even – just something to hang the wet bag from (she had hers attached to her changing table).
- Two diaper-bag-sized wet bags. I have a Smitten Baby Wet Tote that a friend gave me that works beautifully!
Covers go into regular laundry, and the flats and wipes go into a dry bin (in the pail liner). The pail liner goes into the washer along with the flats, everything is rinsed cold, washed hot, and then dried. I wash my diapers using Country Save Laundry Detergent along with a few drops of tea tree oil. Then diapers get line dried in good weather (provided I’m organized enough), or they go into the dryer.
You can see some previous cloth diaper options that I explored in this old cloth diaper stash post. And this post explains why I switched over to cloth diapers.
Both of my cloth diapering sisters use these same Thirsties covers, although one of my sisters uses prefolds instead of flats inside the covers.
Do you use cloth diapers? What works best for you?
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We also used thirsties covers and loved them but we went with prefolds and if I had it to do over again (which I’m glad I don’t) I would have gone with flats. I just discovered them a little too late.
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maryanne Reply:
October 4th, 2012 at 8:12 am
It took me three kids to discover that Thirsties covers with flats worked better for me than any of the supposedly easier options…
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I haven’t used cloth diapers, but I am thinking about trying it. This post has me *thisclose* to ordering some.
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I never used cloth diapers on my kids but looking back I wish I would have.
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Pinning this for future reference. I’ll be trying cloth diapers again on the next go round.
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maryanne Reply:
October 10th, 2012 at 6:26 pm
I hope it works as well for you as it has for us!
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Your system and supplies sound fantastic! I see this has been pinned a bunch of times – you’re helping a lot of people avoid some expensive trial-and-error. :)
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I loved Thirsties, too. But only used them for a few months with J.C. before giving into disposable. Great job with the cloth diapering, Mama!
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What does the tea tree oil do? I use the bum genius all in ones and the stuff in kind. They work pretty well, but the valcro system on them have seen better days:) I like that you can fit them like a diposable diaper, but they wear down a lot easier. They absorb pretty well, but I do have to change them more often than disposable, but I think that is normal. I also have an issue with the amonia smell after my son wets them. Any suggestions on getting that smell to die down?
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maryanne Reply:
October 13th, 2012 at 10:13 am
The tea tree oil helps prevent the ammonia smell – and that is part of why I switched over to flats, because I find that the ammonia smell is much worse with diapers that use fleece. The other thing that helps is to add a drop (really just a drop) of dishwashing detergent (hand detergent, not the stuff you put in a dishwasher) to the rinse you run before washing the diapers. Hope this helps!
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[...] I’ve been using cloth diapers for over six years now! The layout above is what I used with my two middle children – these days I use flats and Thirsties covers, and you can read more about that cloth diapering system here. [...]