Diapering: Our Plan

So, Mr. Free and I are in no way experts. Obviously.

But we've done our research, and *so far* this is our plan to diaper our little one.

Our goals?

Frugality!

Comfort!

Fashion!

Since I will not be a permanent stay-at-home momma, but will luckily be home with this baby for the first 6 months, we've decided on cloth.

But in returning to work, we know it'd have to be an easy process for our nanny or provider. (Still have to figure that out...so much to do!!!)

So after much research, we decided to go with One Size Pocket Diapers.

One sized pocket diapers are pretty pricey, but will last throughout their diapering days. They grow with the child and fit babies 10-35 lbs.

This was appealing with our teeny house and teeny nursery, to not have 18+ diapers in 4+ sizes to store.

With one sized diapers, you have the option of aplix (velcro) or snaps. While the aplix would probably be most user-friendly, they can wear out over time. The snaps are much more sturdy. So in the name of frugality, snaps won.

Another appeal of the one sized pockets, is the pockets! 'Pocket' refers to the pocket built into the back of the diaper to stuff with inserts.

Most diapers come with 2 inserts. A 'newborn' and 'regular'. BumGenius comes with microfiber inserts, but many rave about the bamboo inserts.

If your baby is a heavy wetter, you can stuff with both inserts. If they aren't and you want a trimmer fit, you can just use one.

I really like how it can be customized for your child.

We have registered at Buy Buy Baby and one thing that sold us on them over Babies R Us is that they carry the BumGenius 4.0's IN STOCK!!! Babies R Us they are online only. I'm hoping to receive a few as presents which would help us with our stash!

In the one sized world, BumGenius is probably king. They are the most widely available and popular.

Our plan is a stash of 18-24. If we have more, the better.

We registered for 18 BumGenius 4.0s at Buy Buy Baby.

We have also heard great things about Sunbabies, Alva Babies and Kawaii's. These Chinese-made diapers are a FRACTION of the cost of BumGenius.

BumGenius one-sized pockets are $17.99/diaper. (Thankfully Buy Buy Baby has their 20% off coupons regularly, making them around $14.50!)

But the Chinese-made selection range from $6-9/diaper and get a range of reviews. Some think they are better than BumGenius, some think not so much. I think a lot of it depends on the shape of your baby and which brand fits the best to control leaks.

Black Friday offered some GREAT deals and I snagged 13 one sized Kawaii's and 3 Bum Genius 4.0's.

We received 2 more BumGenius diapers at my shower, and then scored 4 more Bum Genius diapers on clearance at Cotton Babies during their Seconds Sale. (These diapers supposedly have minor defects, but I have yet to find them!)

So our current stash sits at 21 diapers and have only spent $200!

Since the one-sized usually don't fit babies well until they are 10+ pounds, we decided to just use disposables until they fit versus buying a newborn stash. Since we have no idea what the size of our baby will be, we feel this will be the most frugal choice.

Also, the disposables will give us a chance to segway into parenthood before laundry overload begins.

So...what about laundry?

Most usually wash their diapers every other day. Obviously the more diapers you have, the less laundry you have to do...but for the 'stink factor' I think every other day will be a good rule of thumb.

For laundry, most cloth mamas use wetbags vs. systems like a diaper genie. Wetbags keep the contents inside, but breathe so that there isn't ammonia or stink build up. Most have a home wetbag and a travel wetbag for changing while out and about.

We purchased 3 PlanetWise wetbags as they have great reviews and come in adorable prints. 2 are in the nursery in trash cans for everyday laundry, and 1 travel wetbag in size medium for the diaper bag.

The newborn poops is water-soluble so you don't need to do a thing to prep them.

Once baby is onto solid food, the poop becomes...well...more solid.

That is where a diaper sprayer comes in handy.

We registered for one at Buy Buy Baby and hope to get one.

This sprayer attaches to the water line in the tank of your toilet and hangs on the side of the tank.

When baby has a dirty diaper you can just hold the diaper over the toilet and rinse of what needs rinsing.

Then throw diaper into the pail and wash when its time.

Now with laundry detergent...

You can't use just any laundry detergent as it can cause repelling issues.

Here are the most recommended:

Rockin' Green

Original Tide Powder

Dropps

Charlie's Laundry Soap

or make your own...which is what I plan to do.

In food processor, combine:

1/2 c. Baby Oxyclean

1 c. Borax

1 c. Washing Soda

I've stocked up on Dropps when they were on clearance and registered for lots of Baby OxyClean as I have all the other ingredients for the detergent on hand.

Now...what about wipes?

At first, I planned to stick with disposable wipes. But then... I changed my mind. If we are already doing laundry every other day for the diapers, we might as well have cloth wipes and throw them in with them as well.

BumGenius has their own brand of flannel wipes that we were able to register for at BuyBuyBaby as well. We have received 2 packs of them so far, so that totals at 24 cloth wipes. As far as getting the baby "clean"... you can either just wet the wipe with plain water, or there are a number of homemade "wipe solutions" to clean em up.

What about diaper rash cream?

Well, from what I've read, babies who are cloth diapered experience diaper rash much less than those in disposables.

When you do need to use rash cream, you cannot use traditional creams (desitin, butt paste, etc.) as these will create a waxy layer on the cloth causing the liquid to repel (not good!).

A few types you can use include California Baby (available at Target and Buy Buy Baby) and CJ's BUTTer.

I registered for some California Baby and ordered a few samples of the CJ's.

The CJ's is awesome because it's not JUST diaper cream. It can be used for all sorts of skin ailments and comes in fun flavors! They smell awesome!

Now obviously, we haven't tried this all out yet but I've done lots of research and can't wait to give it a whirl.

The savings is so motivating and the cute little fluffy diapers are inspiring as well.

I will be sure to update you on how the process goes!

Does anyone else cloth diaper or plan to?

I'd love to hear insight!