5 Surprising Reasons to Love Cloth Diapers

We all know the primary reasons that most decide to use cloth diapers- they're better for baby and the planet and they save you a ton of money. Those are pretty obvious. Chances are if you're using cloth, it's based on one of those factors or a combination of them at least! And all are fantastic reasons to love cloth. For us, all were contributing factors, but the number one was certainly the cost! Still, after beginning cloth I found that there were many other reasons to love cloth that you don't hear about as often. Here's a look at five surprising reasons I love cloth.

5. Fluffy bums are adorable. Okay, that's pretty obvious, right? And let's be honest that IS a primary reason for some. For us, it wasn't the deciding factor but it certainly is a great benefit. Vibrant colors and cute prints...you just don't get that with a disposable!!

4.The community. In my experience the cloth diapering community is a pretty great one. Oh sure, there are some bad apples and the occasional drama but overall, I've had fantastic experiences. I've 'met' some wonderful like minded bloggers, fellow moms and even the ladies at my local cloth diapering shop. They are a great group of supportive ladies who I'm glad to have gotten the chance to know more about!

3. They're the gateway to all things green. For many moms (particularly those who chose to cloth to save money), cloth diapering soon leads to going green in other areas of their lives- they start switching to mama cloth or washing their clothes with soap nuts...or greening their cleaning and otherwise eliminating chemicals from their homes. For me, I was fairly eco-conscious before cloth came along...BUT it was through cloth that I learned of some green alternatives I was unaware of before- like wool dryer balls which I now LOVE! It was also through cloth diapering that I learned about all the amazing properties of coconut oil for all areas of life. I also learned more about essential oils where body care was concerned!

2. They save money...on PANTS! Yes, once again we all know that they save money over disposables, but what everyone fails to mention is that they can reduce/eliminate the need for pants. Pair them with a coordinating tee with or without legwarmers and you're set! Can you do that with disposable? Maybe, but they don't look NEARLY as adorable! (See reason 5)

1. To be honest, I'm lazy! Wait, what? How can cloth diapering be good for a 'lazy mom'? Simple, I'm too lazy to make a run to the store when I run out of diapers! Don't get me wrong, I love shopping...but diapers never run out when it's convenient and that means getting everyone dressed and loaded into the car...then into the store...and like I said, I'm just too lazy for that! When it seems like I'm getting low on diapers, I just toss them in the wash! So easy...and I don't even have to change out of my yoga pants!

Have you found any surprising reasons to love cloth diapers? Any friends you've made through them? Lessons learned? What do YOU love about using cloth?

Overnight Cloth Diaper Solutions for Toddlers

If you've made it to cloth diapering a Toddler, give yourself a pat on the back! That means you've successfully cloth diapered for over a year - so kudos to you! It's all smooth sailing from here on out, well, kind of.

After cloth diapering for over a year, you probably feel like a pro [and you are]! Or maybe you're just now picking up cloth diapers after your baby has been in disposables for his or her first year of life, and that's fantastic too - you're making a wise choice for your baby, the environment, and your wallet.

Although you won't be changing your toddlers diaper as frequently, you might start to notice that what was working overnight for your baby just might not be keeping your toddler's sheets dry by the morning. I'm sharing with you a couple of overnight cloth diaper solutions for toddlers.

Double Stuff your Cloth Diapers

If you're using a pocket cloth diaper system like Smarti Pants, you may get back with simply double stuffing. You can experiment with this by first stuffing 2 microfiber inserts into your pocket diaper or what I found worked best for my girls is by laying a microfiber insert on top of a hemp insert and stuffing it that way. The microfiber traps liquids fast and the hemp is trim and able to hold more liquids - which gives you a slimmer double stuffed diaper that works twice as hard.

Prefolds with Diaper Covers

Some parents find that certain types of prefolds hold in more liquid, especially at night. You can pair a prefold or folded flat with a diaper cover, like Smarti Pants Diaper Covers to give you a diaper that fits your toddler while absorbing more than a regularly stuffed pocket diaper.

Fitted Diapers with Fleece or Wool Covers

Once my girls hit a certain age, I could no longer stuff their pocket diapers enough - they were too bulky and just couldn't handle the amount of wetting overnight. I chose a Fitted Diaper and Wool Combination simply because a fitted diaper is one in which the entire diaper absorbs, not just the inserts. The Fleece and Wool covers act as a liquid-proof barrier - they hold the wetness into the diaper without letting it escape on your crib sheets. This system can be a bit more costly, which is why I would try the other overnight cloth diaper solutions for toddlers first.

What overnight cloth diaper solutions for toddlers have you tried with success?

  Lindsey is the author behind the So Easy Being Green blog. Once she decided to use cloth diapers on her children, she started making green-er choices in all areas of her life. SEBG is a resource for parents who want to make small changes that will make a big impact on their path to a green-er life.

Randi's Cloth Stash

It's a question that is often heard being asked by one cloth diapering mom to another:

What's in YOUR stash?

When we started cloth diapering, it started with a very modest stash. For the newborn stage, we worked with twenty-four pocket diapers. We knew she wouldn't be in those long, so we stuck with one type and hoped for the best. Once she made the move into one size diapers-at around 4 weeks old- we started experimenting a little more. We purchased some pockets, some covers and inserts...a little bit of everything. As a blogger, I was also lucky enough to have the chance to review many varieties and brands to find what worked best for us. Now that my daughter has turned nine months old, we've finally gotten a good feel of what works best for her and our cloth diapering needs and just finished completely overhauling our stash to reflect that. Here's what our stash looks like now:

All-in-Twos/ Covers & Inserts
The majority of our stash is made up of covers and inserts. We found this system works great for us...it's budget friendly, we can adjust the absorbency and makes for less laundry. We also travel semi-frequently to visit families 3 hours away so these pack up more compactly for travel. (Of course, there is also the option of disposable inserts though we usually just borrow a washer!) They do take a little more effort at diaper changing times, but I change 99% of my daughter's diapers and I don't mind! Our current stash consists of 21 covers and a TON on various inserts and flour sack towels.

Pockets

Though covers tend to be our preferred choice, pockets are great too. They still give us that option of adjusting the absorbency as needed, but are a little easier at diaper changing time, making them more daddy/grandma friendly. We have 10 pockets. One of our absolute favorites is her custom designed Frozen diaper!

All-In-Ones

To round out the stash, we have the absolute easiest option- the all in ones. They are probably our least preferred only because the lack of options when it comes to adjusting absorbency, but I love this particular kind for their fast dry time. They are another fantastic option for the non-cloth-diapering diaper changer since they are ready to go no prep work needed. We have just 5 all in ones.

Accessories

And to finish it off, we have an assortment of much needed accessories- extra inserts for added absorbency, wet bags, wet bags, wet bags (you can NEVER have too many), and of course, cloth wipes!

Overall, our stash is a great fit for us...It gives us the great versatility and ease of all in twos that I personally love, while still having those easier to use options for anyone else (or when I'm in a rush!). It is the perfect stash for my daughter...for now!

Lauren's Experience with Cloth

I’m happy to be contributing to the SmartiPants blog, and am eager to share some of my cloth diapering background with you! Here are a couple of cloth diapering facts about me:

• I am a huge proponent of simple cloth diapering (flats, prefolds, and covers)
• I prefer using natural fibers
• I love helping people feel comfortable using wool (it’s a miracle fiber!)
• I am not a fan of pocket diapers
• My favorite diaper is a diaper you can’t purchase in the US (I came across it used)

When I began building our cloth diaper stash, almost three years ago, the driving force behind our decision to use cloth was primarily based in economics. We had moved to another state for my husband’s job, forcing me to leave my own career behind. I worked in publishing and the market was unbelievably competitive due to massive layoffs the previous year; I had multiple interviews with publishing houses, none of which turned into a position. Expecting a baby, and living off of one income, meant that we had to be extremely mindful about our expenses; cloth diapering was the perfect fit.

I was a cloth-diapered baby (flats, prefolds, rubber pants), so it wasn’t such a stretch to envision lots of fluff in our future. After researching all I could about cloth diapering, I decided that prefolds and covers were the best choice for us (economical and easy to care for). I built our stash gradually, hunting out cloth diaper sales, and adding some used pocket diapers here and there. When our son finally arrived, and we got into the swing of cloth diapering, we quickly realized that pocket diapers were not for us. I added more prefolds and, eventually, fitteds to our cloth diaper stash.

When my son was around 11 months old, he began fighting every diaper change; pinning Snappis proved a challenge, let alone trying to complete three steps in diapering (prefold, Snappi, cover). Since we were already using GroVia and Best Bottom shells as covers, I purchased inserts and began using them as all-in-one (AIO) diapers (single use). Over time, I added several AIO diapers and purchased many used diapers to get a feel for what worked for us. As a result, my cloth diaper stash is varied and versatile; comprised of over 75 prefolds (preemie to toddler sizes), 10+ PUL covers (sized and one-size), 5+ wool longies & shorties, 9 AI2s, and 20 AIOs.

If I could offer advice to new cloth diapering parents, I would suggest NOT buying a particular diaper in bulk (no matter how good the deal). In two years of cloth diapering, I’ve gone through multiple styles of diapers with my son, as what worked for him at a one [st]age no longer fit well or provided adequate absorbency at another. Being able to easily sell or trade diapers that don’t work for us is extremely helpful.


Lauren is a former publishing rep-turned-WAHM to a rambunctious toddler. When she's not playing Susie Homemaker, you can find Lauren blogging about all things natural parenting/living at TheMedianMommy.com, sewing or knitting woolen goodies, or scheming for companies as a freelance Copywriter, Blogger & Marketing Consultant.

Transitioning from Newborn Cloth to One Size Diapers

The Smarti Pants newborn diapers were my favorite newborn diapers during those short early weeks my son fit into them. Unfortunately that glorious honeymoon of a newborn phase doesn't last long. My son was out of newborn diapers in a month, and has continued to chunk up ever since. I tried one of the one size Smarti Pants diapers on my older son, to see if they were as magical in bigger sizes. Sadly they weren't as awesome as the newborn ones, but still were great for the toddler.

 
 Smarti Pants one size diapers are your average cloth diaper, without frills. The low price of $14.95 it is a great deal compared to a lot of other, more expensive diapers. The Smarti Pants costs more than a china cheapie, but that extra few dollars shows in the durability of the snaps and pul. Months later, the diaper is still bright, and the snaps are strong and secure. I've had china cheapies break the first wash, so a few dollars really is worth it.

 the main difference between smarti pants and other diapers is the smart sleeve pocket, which is open at both ends. this is a great feature for my husband who still, years after we started using cloth, forgets to unstuff the diapers once in a while. nothing is worse than folding laundry to discover a diaper with a wadded up insert still in it. the smart sleeve allows the insert to agitate itself out during the wash. unfortunately it also means there is nowhere to secure the insert in when im putting the diaper on the babies to ensure it isnt peeking out the diaper. for this reason i keep the smarti pants on the toddler, so i dont need to adjust the rise and shorten the diaper for the baby. all in all this is a great diaper for the price, even though the smart sleeve can be a double edge sword. if i wasnt trying to speed change the baby to make sure the toddler doesnt get into anything i would be able to take the time to make sure the insert isnt peeking out the back of the baby, so i blame that issue on user error!


Contributed by Miranda

Miranda talks about 2 children in cloth!

One of my favorite parts of cloth diapering is the ability to use the diapers I used for one child to diaper subsequent children. Before I had baby3.0 it was a great plan in my head, but it wasn't until he was born and I actually started diapering him that I fell in love with cloth all over again. One of the biggest expenses with babies is diapers and I didn't have to buy any with the new baby, nor will I ever have to! Talk about getting your moneys worth and saving money!

Some people looked at me like I was crazy diapering two in cloth, and remarked about how much wash I would end up having to do. I'm pretty sure they are the same people who said cloth would be too much wash when I was doing it for just one baby, but I don't do any more laundry now than I did before baby3.0 was born. I was still needing to do a load a day with just one in cloth, whether it was diaper laundry or clothes, and I still only have to do one load a day.

I'm not too sure how typical my cloth experience is for two in cloth; I had (and have) a huge stash of diapers, and I could go days between needing to wash for just toddler2.0. Even now with two in cloth I could do diapers every other day without running out. I have about 60 diapers, so I would have that as my recommendation for anyone planning on diapering two at the same time! Even my old diaper bag (a Vera Bradley) holds enough for the two of them, but I also don't leave the house for long! I'm pleasantly surprised at really how little having two in cloth has changed my regular routine.

Contributed by: Miranda

Using Cloth Swim Diapers

Whether you cloth diaper full-time or just part-time, one of the easiest forms of cloth diapers is cloth swim diapers! Why? Because they're basically just like their disposable cousins, but way better for your baby, the environment, and your wallet! Both disposable swim diapers and cloth swim diapers are made to keep in solid waste. They both let liquids pass through. Think about it - if the disposable swim diapers collected liquids, they would swell up like regular disposables do in the water! Other than the fact that you wash the cloth version, they’re basically the same thing! There are cloth swim diapers that are marketed as such - most are sized, to give the best and trimmest fit on babies [since they are often put under swimsuits]. Some are pull-on style and others are similar to regular cloth diapers, with aplix or snap closures. But you don't technically have to have a "cloth swim diaper". You can always use a cloth diaper cover or shell has your swim diaper. You should be careful as prolonged exposure to chlorinated water can break down PUL so if you choose to go this route, I would use the same shell for your swim diaper rather than using a variety in your stash.

 Another great idea is to use a cloth diaper that may have already delaminated. Since you don't need the swim diaper to be leak-proof, it's a great way to use a diaper that you might otherwise think you need to throw out! No matter what type of cloth swim diaper you decide to use, make sure you have a nice, snug fit around the legs as you don't want any leaks!

Do you use Cloth Swim Diapers? Did you purchase a "Swim Diaper" or use something else?