Here is how I cloth diaper in my house. Keep in mind, everyone is different, so you need to find what best fits your family and your needs. 🙂
1) Pocket Diapers. I prefer them over prefolds/covers and AIO (all in ones) because I like to be able to adjust the insert kind and count as baby grows. You can also start out at the smallest size and adjust the rise snaps to make the diaper bigger as they grow.
2) Inserts. I use Microfiber to start, then as baby grows and needs more absorption I either add another MF, or a blend insert (cotton/bamboo, MF/bamboo, etc). I also make small half size mini-booster inserts from the MF cloths that you can buy in bulk from Costco.
3) Diaper Pail. I have a diaper pail with a diaper liner in my son’s bedroom so I can easily disassemble a wet diaper right then and there at time of change. I also have a zippered wetbag hanging so that I can wrap up a poopy diaper and put in there for later spraying. (see#4). You don’t necessarily need a diaper liner, you could use a garbage bag (and just reuse it) but I prefer the PUL liners.
4) Diaper Sprayer. There are many people who say you do not need a diaper sprayer in order to successfully cloth diaper; I, on the other hand, completely disagree. I do not believe I would be able to CD without a sprayer. It is so convenient and EASY. Mine broke for one week and I tried the swish and soak method and it was too hard, I ended up keeping Carter in disposables for that week until I got the sprayer fixed. I also keep a second diaper pail in the bathroom for the diapers after I spray the poop out.
5) Diaper Liners. There are some restrictions on what kind of ointments you can use with cloth diapers that won’t clog up the PUL and make leaks happen. Instead of freaking out about it, I decided to just get some biodegradable diaper liners that you can flush down the toilet, so if by chance one of my kids needs some diaper rash cream (although my kids rarely get diaper rash with CD 🙂 ) I can throw a liner down and use what I need to use. There are some CD safe ointments (my favorite is Earth Mama Angel Baby’s Bottom Balm… it seems to clear up pretty much any sort of rash/yeast in a short period of time.
6) Travel Wetbag. I got a wet/dry wetbag for when I am out and about, the front is just cloth with a zipper to hold your dry diapers, the back part has the PUL lining so you can put dirty diapers in there (also zippers). There are several sizes, the one pictured is I believe 11×14, you can fit about 4-5 diapers comfortably in there at a time. Sometimes I use this as my diaper bag too, throw some toys or a bottle in the front. I also have a one diaper sized one if I won’t be gone long and only want to bring 1 diaper “just in case”…
7) Nightime Leakage. I have chosen to use CD at nighttime as well, since my kids seem to leak through disposables just as easily as CD. I have found the combination of MF and hemp help to keep leakages at a minimum. A lot of people use disposables at night instead of CD, it’s all what you prefer.
8) Washing. You should use as little detergent as possible to reduce the chance of it building up on your diapers. I use about 1 TBSP of Ecover (I get it from Sprouts) per load, or I have also used Dreft or Purex Baby.
Basic instructions: Dump dirty diapers in washer. Do one rinse cycle. Do a wash cycle with 1 TBSP detergent. After done do another rinse cycle. Hang to dry on the line, or if need quickly you can put in the dryer (low heat preferred, but high heat is OK). Since my kids have a history with the yeast monster, I add some Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) to the first rinse cycle and some Grapefruit Seed Extract (GSE) to the last rinse cycle. It is supposed to help with the bacteria. You can also add OxiClean to the wash cycle if you want to bleach them a little, but make sure to add another rinse cycle at the end.
Cycra's Life 