How To Guide: Logistics

Cloth diapering can seem incredibly overwhelming at first. If you're like me when I started out, you have a million and three questions. They can be simple questions, but they are all legitimate questions. In order to help ease any apprehension, I will share our set up and our process from start to finish. One of the best things about cloth diapering is how flexible it is. I share our process as a starting point for you, but this is just what works for us. There may be, and probably will be, things you change that work better for you. 

I should probably preface this by letting you know I am a bit OCD. I am organized and like things ready to go. I have all our cloth diapers stuffed and stored in boxes on the shelves under our changing table. Some people keep them in a wad in the laundry basket straight from the dryer and stuff as they go. Either way is totally ok. 

Hanging on the side of our changing table are medium sized wet bags to store the dirty diapers. To the left of our changing table, I have a cart with all other baby changing goodies- wipes, creams, lotions, water, etc. To the right, I have a trash can with a lid. The lid is simply because I have a nosy dog who likes to eat gross things given the chance. 

At this point in your journey, you have already figured out how to get that perfect fit. Babe has been wearing the diaper and it is now time for a change. You are holding a dirty cloth diaper. Now what? 

Soiled diapers: 

- Pee: If the diaper just contains pee, I throw the whole thing into the wet bag until wash day. That's it. Simple! 

- Poop: If the diaper contains poop, I take the insert out and place in the wet bag. When I am finished changing little one, I take the pocket to the toilet and spray ALL the poop off with our diaper sprayer that is attached to the toilet. The diaper sprayer is a GAME CHANGER in the world of cloth diapers and makes dealing with poop super quick and easy. Once the poop is washed off, the pocket goes into the wet bag with the rest. I have seen some people say they like to spray the insert off as well. Thats fine. I have found 99% of the stains on the insert caused by poop come out in the wash. For me, spraying the insert off is just an extra step and isn't necessary. 

I will mention that sometimes.... ok, a lot of times, I'll get lazy. I may put the poop diaper to the side and not rinse it out until the end of the day as part of our bedtime routine. It's totally fine and won't hurt the diaper. Once in a while, life happens or a routine is switched up and I have forgotten about the diaper until the next day. I don't recommend this mainly for sanitary reasons and to keep mold, flies and stains away, but I mention it to say, its ok. I'd bet most of us have forgotten a time or two and 24 hours shouldn't hurt the diaper.

I'll add here that if any diaper, even just a pee diaper, was misplaced or forgotten about for an extended period of time, it is highly possible for mold to grow. Mold thrives in damp, dark places like a dirty diaper and will look like black specks on the diaper or insert. If this happens, it is not the end of the world, but you'll want to make sure you sanitize with bleach and wash the diaper properly to get rid of all mold before using on babe again. 

Wipes:

Depending on my mood, I switch between disposable and cloth wipes. To use cloth wipes, I have a bottle containing regular tap water on the cart next to the changing table. The bottle is an extra cleansing bottle I got from the hospital when babe was born, nothing fancy. You can add coconut oil, essential oils, baby shampoo, etc. to the water. There are quite a few recipes online. It is just easier for us to use plain ole tap water. When needed, I squirt a cloth wipe with the water. In our case, the wipes are just extra baby washcloths we got from our baby shower. I have also heard where people cut up old receiving blankets or even old t-shirts in squares to use as wipes. You can use pretty much anything that is cotton or made of natural fibers. 

- Disposable: If using disposable wipes, all used wipes go in a trash can I have next to the changing table.

- Cloth: I treat cloth wipes identical to the diapers. If just pee, straight into the wet bag until wash day. If poop, I take it with the diaper to spray off in the toilet and then into the wet bag. 

About a day of diapers fits in a medium wet bag for us. After about 2 days, I take the 2 full wet bags to the washer. I separate and unfold the inserts from the pockets and throw everything in the washing machine. You can leave the rise snaps snapped. The diaper will still get clean and you save yourself extra work. I turn the wet bags inside out and throw them in as well. I wash, dry, stuff and fold and voile! That is our process. 

It may take some getting used to, but once you get the hang of it, it really shouldn't be much different or any harder than using disposables. Hopefully, I answered some burning questions. If not, PLEASE feel free to reach out to me in any of the ways on the contact page. I want you to succeed on your cloth diaper journey, so I am always here to help. :)