25 facts cloth diapering taught me
I have been cloth diapering for almost a year now. When you hear ‘Cloth Diaper’ do not picturize plastic covers and flats with safety pins like what our mothers and grandmothers used. Instead, the modern cloth diapers are trendy with beautiful prints and are trim diapers made of organic cotton/microfiber/hemp/bamboo cotton, PUL and a few snaps.
Delving into the cloth diapering world has taught me some interesting facts for sure. Here are a few.
1. To shop local from small shop owners rather than big corporate . Especially mompreneurs. You are helping a family out.
2. To reduce my carbon print or plastic trail.
3. Organic cotton clothes are better than synthetic fibers especially for baby skin.
4. Online shopping. It’s pros and cons and everything in between.
5. Fast fingers during online shopping. Especially in cases of sales and discounts.
6.Facebook groups are a close-knit community. The easiest place to find your tribe – people with your own interest. (No wonder, Facebook realized it huge potential and is testing ads in groups now !)
7. Offers and reward points are a great way to save a few bucks.
8. There is something called Black Friday sales and earth day sales.(We live in the East haha!)
9. Sun works a magic on stains. Wet the cloth and dry under the sun.
10. For proper usage of washing machine use 3/4 load for better friction. Not less. Not full. (Also, the washing machine manual has a plethora of information!)
11. The amount of detergent used should be as mentioned on the detergent packet, especially for heavily soiled dresses
12.. Being aware of ingredients in detergent & also its individual uses – as perfumes, conditioners etc.
13.Concept of pre-wash in laundry.
14. Overnight diapers stink. Pretty bad. Ponder on all the ingredients in disposable diapers which mask that smell.
15. The different stages of baby poop. Think – Water. Peanut butter. Truffles! (Sorry!)
16. PUL is the waterproof layer used on Cloth diapers. Other application in medical, automotive and garment uses.
17. How to insert snaps on fabric.
18. Lanolized woolen shorts or pants can be used as diaper cover. They are water-resistant and have natural odour fighting properties.
19. Micro-fleece is a stay dry layer. Pour water and touch . Magic.
20. Online giveaways – You get free stuff as a consumer. As a business owner, you get huge attention especially based on the product being given away. Take advantage of all the likes, comments and page views due to a giveaway.
21. For any product to be popular, not only is it necessary to be functional but also should have aesthetic value. How else do you explain beautifully printed diapers going for 300$?
22.Business should target mothers. They are the decision makers of the family.
23. BST – There is a whole world out there. (ie Buy/Sell/Trade for the uninitiated! )
24.Different acronyms DISO, HTF, MV, AIO etc
25. Other aspects of natural parenting.
Do you have any more points to add to this list?
39 Comments
Georgiana
LOL, different stages of baby poop! You are one brave mama. If I could go back, I’d maybe try cloth because I found that diapers nowadays are SO absorbent that my kids didn’t care about potty training. If they’d actually felt wet, it would probably have made the potty training so much easier.
Shahira
yeah that is what I learnt recently that the feeling of wet makes it easier for potty training!
sganong
Wow, I never knew so much about cloth diapering! I didn’t use cloth diapers, but I considered it with my boys… but now we are almost out of diapers completely 🙂
Shahira
Thank you for stopping by here.
Stacy @ Taylor411
Wow, this is a lot of good information. We tried them, but unfortunately did not stick to it.
Shahira
Thank you!
Jen G
Didn’t use clothes either, but have a few friends that do now and they swear by it.
Shahira
yeah the modern cloth diapers are far easier than the older ones.
Ellie Augustin
WOW that’s an awesome informative list. I must be honest I never thought of doing cloth. My youngest is done w/diapers so now I’m all about cute little girlie undies lol..
Shahira
Haha! Yeah , our obsession changes with our babies age. Of late, I am done with collecting CDs. It’s more of board books now.
Alexie
Cloth diapering is DEFINITELY the way to go! No questions asked! ?awesome list
Shahira
Thank you.
inspiringdiaries
what a great article! I used cloth nappies with my first but then disposables became a lot more convenient with my youngest 3. when my youngest was born I had 3 under 3 yrs so time to keep washing cloth nappies wasnt my friend lol
Shahira
I can only imagine how having 3 under 3 would be. Kudos to you! 🙂
Savannah (@HowHesRaised)
The sun!!! Ah, I never knew about the amazing things the sun could do until we started cloth diapering!! Sadly, almost all of the elastics in my diapers are so stretched and it’s making them fit very strangely on my toddler, so I’m spending the next week or so changing all the elastics. Toughest thing I’ve learned in my cloth journey so far! Thanks for sharing <3
Shahira
The elastics! I forgot to add that in the list 😀 but then I have never replaced elastics until now. I understand, it might be so difficult especially for certain brand where you really need to undo all the stitches!
Katrina
Great stuff Dr. Shahira! did you try sewing a cloth diaper? or had to repair a couple snaps? (#17 above)…
You made me smile especially with #1! 😉 as a small diaper company owner (Alimama) in Canada. Thank you.
Shahira
Thank you! No, I have never tried sewing one though I have been tempted to!
Good wishes on your business, just checking them out! 🙂
elizabethdoren2
I used the disposable because I knew nothing about cloth diapers. This is a super informative and helpful list. If only I could turn back time…
Shahira
Thank you for stopping by my blog!
Shann Eva
Cloth diapers are definitely very different than when we were growing up. They are so cute, and so much easier to use than they once were. I also discovered the online buying/selling groups, but when I had the twins it was too much. Maybe if I ever have another single baby.
Shahira
Yeah. I presume it would be very tedious with 2 of the same age.
leahmlr
We’re a cloth diapering family, too! There is a lot that goes along with it. I’ve had to learn how to strip diapers since ours have been around for two kids now!
Shahira
Ah! Stripping! I havent done the RLR til now, but had bleached once. The things we learn haha
Crystal
I decided to go with cloth for potty training. I was going to make some myself that would be more diaper-like for trips to town but all the fabric is crazy expensive. I will definitely be looking for black friday sales on it!
Shahira
Yayy! Same here. I think there are some crazy cheap sales then 🙂
Candace @ Fullest Mom
We really considered cloth diapering. It just never panned out. These are really good points though. I’d like to share this post with all the expectant moms in my family.
Shahira
Thank you for stopping by here !
gloriousmomblog
I have big respect for moms who cloth diaper. As a WAHM with two in diapers and one autistic, I’m not confident I could pull it off.
Shahira
Thank you for reading !
Tiffany | shortsweetmom
This is quite the list! We did not use cloth diapers this time around but I am open to it in the future. I have many friends who have done cloth diapering and have shared the pros and cons. I am willing to try but not sure the hubby is convinced lol.
Shahira
haha. I can understand!
Thank you for reading!
Becca @ Nappies & Nail Polish
I kind of wanted to try cloth diapering but I just can’t willingly give myself more laundry to do… The lazy inside me just won’t let me!
Shahira
I am usually lazy except for Cd laundry. oh The crazy obsessions! lol!
Inez
This is so awesome!! I shared with a friend who is going to be cloth diapering. We did it for awhile. It really wasn’t bad at all. I wish we had continued but it was hard because my support person wasn’t really on board with it. 🙁
Shahira
Thank you for sharing my article!
Dawn
We have been cloth diapering since my lo was 4 weeks old. We love it! There are so many ways to do it, from flats/prefolds with covers, to fitteds, to pockets, to all in ones. We use a little of everything. When I was researching it I was so overwhelmed, but it has been easier than I could imagine. I love that we don’t have to buy diapers and can use these diapers for multiple kids, then can sell them when we are donewith them. I love that we don’t throw tons of diapers into a land fill. The cute prints are to die for. And my baby’s bum doesn’t wear chemicals all day. We rarely have poop-splosions. Not does she get any rashes. And the big fluffy booty is just too cute. My only complaint is I can’t stop BUYING ALL THE DIAPERS! If you are thinking about doing cloth I say go for it. Best move we ever made.
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