As the moms who take part in my cloth diaper workshops and 1:1 consultations will tell you—I am passionate about good fitting, leak proof and trim newborn diapers.

A little personal background—I had planned to cloth diaper more than two years prior to getting pregnant with my first baby. I stumbled upon what a cloth diaper was online one evening and I legally registered the name “baby footprint” and obtained the domain name within a month. I didn’t know anyone who cloth diapered at that time, and I thought these were the ultimate—better for the environment, better for baby’s skin, AND much less expensive than disposables. I knew for sure this was a business winner. I dreamt about what kind of boutique or service I would create but… kept it on the back burner as I focused on my corporate career goals.

Fast forward to January 2011 when my sweet baby Milo was born 8lbs and 4oz, he was 13lbs at his two month (10 week) shot/weigh-in. Don’t worry, that kind of weight gain is not typical! He grew super fast and thankfully he is a more average 27 lb, 18 month old now. The most difficult time to cloth diaper was during those first two months. He had this little pot belly and pretty scrawny legs in proportion—of course, he was perfect to me!

Back to the business: I thought I would take advantage of all the “free time” (baahhaaaahaha) I would have on mat leave and start Baby Footprint for reals! I had done all this research, read tons of reviews and signed numerous wholesale agreements to build my inventory. I had no clue what I was getting into because I found even though I was so passionate about cloth diapering, I was becoming disenchanted with the whole thing due to frequent leaks and Kardashian-sized booty on my three week old.  Not to mention this little prince really didn’t sleep for more than 45 minutes at a time, which left me with so many questions and zero ability to think rationally. I genuinely thought I sucked too much of the laughing gas during my “natural”  labour and I would never re-gain the ability to think critically and problem solve as I once had. The question I would continue to come back to was “What am I doing wrong?”

We tried everything, fastening the pocket diapers tight, then yanking the sucker up higher and fastening tighter again. We tried adding more inserts, then less inserts (maybe it was too much bulk and the pee found the gap between the baby and insert?).

Eventually I figured it out. Here is where the business + personal story come together to end happily. I had several different diaper brands and styles to choose from. I originally had taken out a set of diapers I thought would work great for me , my husband, Milo and the person who does the laundry (oh, that is me too). Not everyone is building their cloth diaper empire (muuhahaha) while simultaneously learning how to cloth diaper their own first child, so I understand when one kind doesn’t work its much more difficult for another mom who invested in a certain set of cloth diapers recommended by a friend or through the research she did, to simply shrug and say— “lets give another one a try.”

Thanks for keeping with me for this long, here is where you can (hopefully) learn from my experience:

1)      Cloth diapering during the newborn stage is the most challenging, if you start (and are successful) at this stage, you will have no problems keeping up with it until baby is fully potty trained. You won’t even think about it, its just the way it is, the way its done and you will have saved the planet, your baby’s bum from nasty rashes and exposure to heat and chemicals, and have an extra $1000-1600 in your wallet depending on which cloth diaper system you choose to go with. 

2)      Here is why the first 8-12 weeks are hard:

a.       You are new—to everything, the baby, the lack of sleep, the diapers, the laundry (I personally used to save up all my laundry to Saturday, and sometimes…. I even skipped a week). Lets face it, I knew those days were behind me, cloth diapers or not. Babies create a ton of laundry.

b.      They are so tiny. Even though Milo was by no one’s definition a “tiny” newborn he had those scrawny little legs that let his “opposite of tiny” amount of pee through the gap. I put a one-size on him every other week and couldn’t stop giggling at how huge his bum was - definitely wasn’t going to fit into the 0-3 month Wranglers he had.

c.       They go through 10-12 diapers on average per day. Every couple hours, you are thinking of, smelling, or changing a diaper—they are kind of a big deal.

3)      Here is how you can make it easier:

a.       Have enough of them—don’t be like me and think you can work with 14 diapers. Even though there’s a good chance you will be awake at 4am, doesn’t mean you want to take that time to switch over the laundry or hang dry your covers.

b.      Don’t bother with One Size in the first 3 months. Even though those One Size diapers say they start at 7 or 8 lbs, in my opinion it’s a bold face lie. Milo (again, not on the small side) was 15lbs before he was going 9/10 with no leaks, and maybe that sounds like a high standard—but that’s my standard. I have no patience for leaks. So if you are good with 75%, and you have a more normally proportioned child you could probably get away with 12-13lbs. It’s a whole different game when they’re out of the “newborn” size. 80% of my current stash is One Size so don’t drop me One Size Manufacturers, I still love you.

c.       Have a variety—this is what saved my cloth diaper dreams from turning into a true nightmare. I didn’t think I would like the 2 piece systems at all, I was an AIO/ Pockets kind of gal, however, the newborn fitted’s with covers were amazing for holding lots of pee, and not leaking.  However, when it was Wranglers time, it was XS AIO underneath and a diaper change in 1.5 hours with my heavy wetter. For Daddy, it was the XS Pocket Diaper that went on so quick and easy and could have an extra doubler added for again… the heavy wetter.

d.      Make sure you are using the right soap, because soap residue is your worst enemy. It interferes with absorbency and can actually give your baby a rash. Rockin Green Cloth Diaper laundry soap is the only brand I will totally name drop in this blog post. Unlike the fitted’s, where I tried and loved 3 different kinds;  the various covers brands that if I still sell them—they work,  I don’t recommend any other soap. If you read one of my early laundry posts I was using a different kind and justifying the sometimes 3 extra rinses I would have to do to ensure there was no soap residue. I was OCD about checking my rinses for soap bubbles. With the Rockin Green soap, I can rest easy that the simple cold rinse, hot wash, extra cold rinse works like a charm every time.

So are you convinced you should invest in newborn diapers? They are totally worth it. If you are a numbers cruncher you will have calculated that 9 weeks worth of disposable diapers is about $200.

Here is where I can make your day!! Rent a kit of 26 cloth diapers (approx 2.25 day supply) for $20 per week.  Also, get the opportunity to try out a variety of styles and brands.

I hear so often the similar experience of moms who thought they liked a certain kind but then found it wasn’t trim enough, took too long to dry, wasn’t absorbent enough, too intimidating to another caregiver, couldn’t be bothered to match and stuff inserts, microfleece or snap or Velcro tab bothered baby’s skin, etc, etc, etc.

I always say if there was just one perfect diaper, that was the best at everything, I would just sell the one kind. It really comes down to what your personal preferences are, and sometimes a pot belly and scrawny legs can throw even the most dedicated cloth diaperer a curve ball.

Go to the Newborn Rental Program page to reserve your due date!

Did you know?
381,382 births in 2010 -- 44, 497 in BC*
The vast majority of these new babies are in disposable diapers. My goal over 3 years was to support 500 new parents to choose cloth diapers over disposable. I made the goal of having these new parents use 6 cloth diapers each day (which means they use 50% cloth in the newborn stage and 80% cloth after 6 months) instead of 6 disposables. Here is the impact:

• 400,00 lbs of waste is kept from our landfills**
• 1 million disposable diapers are not produced/ consumed***
• $240,000 in combined savings to put towards an RESP, organic food, more sustainable baby products**
  

*Stats Can, Period from July 1 2009 to June 30 2010
**Numbers are approximate and based on information published in the Environmental Agency's Science Report SC010018/SR2.
*** Based on approximately $0.25 per disposable diaper NOT purchased because they chose to change a cloth diaper instead.

I have been cloth diapering Milo for 5 months today! We arrived home from the hospital and I started using my Newborn Sandy's, SIze 1 bamboozle, XS BumGenius AIO's and some Bummi's prefolds (although I will admit, it didn't last too long with the prefolds-- that's another post).


As someone who thought this was going to be a MAJOR adjustment laundry wise, I will tell you-- its been way easier than I thought. I was committed to cloth diapering before Milo was even conceived for the environmental and health reasons, but as someone who piled up her laundry to do every other weekend, I was prepared for a real challenge here. It was a pleasant surprise to realize that it really was the least of my new found challenges as first time mother. Yeah, there are a ton of things that were harder than I thought - breastfeeding (ouch, but we're all good now ;), keeping my house semi clean, finding the motivation to exercise, trying to get Milo to nap more than 30 minutes, you get the picture. Adding 2 -3 loads of laundry per week was not huge deal, especially since babies tend to get their clothes dirty, your clothes dirty, blankets, wash cloths, etc dirty at such a pace that you are doing more laundry any way. Long gone are the every-other-weekend days... 


Another awesome thing-- you don't need to hang diapers up, like clothes. I hate hanging stuff up. If I could buy all non-wrinkle clothes and replace my closet with a chest of drawers-- I would.


I don't want to sound like I am bragging-- but with only 18 diapers in my stash I do laundry 3 times per week and I don't have any stains, a stinky diaper pail, and have a pretty simple washing routine. If your baby is exclusively breastfed, all waste is water soluable so it can all go straight into the washer-- no pre-toilet rinsing necessary (unless its a super big one, then see tip #5). If your baby is on formula, or has started solids, shaking off the solids is necessary before you hit the routine.


 Here are some of my tips:


1. HOT wash-- be comforted by the fact that producing/ manufacturing a disposable diaper uses more energy and water than washing cloth diapers AND you are keeping them out of the landfill where they reside hundreds of years. So don't feel bad cranking up the temperature on your washing machine. All cloth diapers that I sell, are able to take a hot wash no problem. If you have some kind of Sanitary cycle though, skip it-- its close to boiling and too hot for any PUL materials.


2. Good soap and not too much - I use Melaluca, and after running out once and buying 3 different kinds without success, I think I will stick with it. It washes out the best and that is key. If you are having problems with absorbency or skin irritation, your laundry soap is the most likely culprit. Soap residue really sticks to cloth diapers, so enzyme, fragrance free are best-- you don;t want to see any soap bubbles in your final rinse. Here is a list from the Diaper Jungle on the best brands for cloth diapers. Strangely Melaluca got a poor rating, but after trying Seventh Generation Free & Clear, Tide Free and Ecos Free & Clear-- I think it washes clean so maybe they tested a different kind of Melaluca :S
Update: I started using Rockin Green Cloth Diaper Laundry soap and while Melaluca worked better than others I had tried, Rockin Green is amazing! I used to use 2 inserts in all of his pockets, now he only needs one since the inserts can absorb so much more -- zero soap residue.


3. High Water setting & Extra Rinse-- Even if your 12, 18, 24 diapers would warrant a small or medium water level, use the the max water setting, the rinse is key to removing any excess soap residue. An extra rinse is recommended if you see any bubbles in wash rinse. 9 / 10 I do an extra rinse, cold is fine. An extra cycle is a good idea too.
Update: With Rockin Green, I haven't needed to strip or do multiple rinses. Just one extra and there are ZERO bubbles, and I am not so obsessive about checking for bubbles anymore, since I know there are none.


4. Do diapers every 2 - 3 days -Don't let stains set! Also effective if you are suffering from diaper stink issues -- ammonia or urine scent that lingers in clean diapers. Try washing a bit more often, change soaps (although stick with a frangrance free), or try stripping the diapers occasionally (3 hot washes with a bit of vinegar in the second wash).


5. Diaper Sprayer for BIG poops- I don't use it every time, especially if laundry time is coming soon (within a day), but my little guy is famous for a weekly HUGE one so the sprayer is awesome for dealing with the super gross-- anything you wouldn't want to put in your pail but don't want to start up the washing machine. I sell them on the site, $52 and really easy to hook up and hang next to your toilet. Small but powerful.
Update: I have started putting Milo on the potty every diaper change, we catch about 50% of poops this way. The sprayer is also great for rinsing the potty right into the toilet. No contaminating tubs or sinks.

6. Bio-liners-- if you have tried all of the above but still have some stains, the liners are great. Flushable or compostable/ biodegradable they save your diaper from bearing the brunt of the yucky stuff. Especially helpful for those babies on solids as it makes clean up much easier.


7. Sun-- have some stains, there is no better all natural brightener/ whitener than the sun. Lay them out, hang them out-- and its pretty amazing!


Those are my 7 tips, to brag worthy, easy cloth diaper laundry. Do you have any additional tips, or do you have a specific issue with cloth diaper laundry?