All about cloth diapers and my cloth diaper routine

Several people have asked me about cloth diapers. Well, there are many other ladies that would be far better to ask but I'll tell you everything I know :) 

First off, I'm a lazy cloth diaper mom. I do it part time. Usually when we are at home I use them. For church and outings we do disposable. I actually try to time Reece's poops and only put him in one when I don't think he will poop :D but he's 2 TODAY!! {Happy birthday Reece!} so operation no more diapers starts now. 

Anyways. I use mainly ALVA BABY brand. (alvababy.com) I really like them. They have dozens of patterns AND they are only $3.50-$5.50!!! That's so cheap. Bum Genius is $20 a diaper.  All the diapers pictured above are POCKET diapers by Alva Baby. 

My favorite diapers are the Thirsties ALL IN ONE'S.  I only have a few of those because they are expensive.  

I also have a few Bum Genius ALL IN ONE's.  Do not like those at All!! The deal with those is, when you go to spray poop off the diaper in the toilet, it has TWO inserts attached at each end, so poop gets under those and one insert always falls in the toilet. Gross.  

The Thirsties ALL IN ONE'S have ONE attached insert. It is super easy to spray clean and if you have a heavy wetter like i do (Reece), then you can stuff an extra insert under the sewed (is that the right word or is it sown?) one {only sewed on the sides}. 

I should have taken a pic of ye pockets where you stuff the insert in. But it's right at the top of the diaper where it touches the baby's back. 

There are ALL IN ONE'S which are cloth diapers with inserts sewed in. 

There are POCKET cloth diapers where you stuff the diaper with an insert. 

Then there are PRE-FOLDS (pic below) which are the old style diapers you fold and use pins..or now they make these snappy things you put on it, and you need a water proof cover for these. I don't use these so I'm not too sure on them. 

There are BAMBOO inserts which are more natural for baby skin, and I know lots of moms that swear by them. I dont like them though :( They don't absorb well at all. 

There are MICROFIBER inserts, which are much better at absorbing. I use these. They are cheaper too. Alva baby diapers all come with one. you can upgrade to bamboo if you want. 

Microfiber can irritate baby's skin when it's wet if you place it right on the skin. So I have to Doulbe up on inserts for Reece, so I stuff TWO inside the pockets so it doesn't touch his skin. 

I have 18 newborn diapers for Will, and 24 diapers for Reece. (Not all shown in Photos). The Alva newborn diapers fit Will around 2-3 weeks old. He's gonna grow out if them quick I think, even though it says up to 18 lbs. here's a photo of Will in newborn Alva cloth diaper. Will is 11 lbs currently and when I took that photo. I don't have to snap the diaper down to make it it's smallest so i think it would have fit him right away. 

Ok so here's what I do: 

To change a newborn wet or poopy diaper I wipe him like normal and throw the wipes away in my diaper genie. 

Then I pull out the insert from the dirty diaper and toss the insert and diaper in the dirty diaper bin (a trash can with a lid and a cloth diaper wet bag).  

Exclusively Breastfed babies poop does not need to be sprayed. 

Super easy! 

For Reece's wet diapers I simply throw in the bin and wipe him, throw away the wipes. 

For his poops I take the diaper off, close it, slide it to the side (all while holding up his legs), then wipe him. Throw away the wipes in the diaper genie, and put a new diaper on him and send him in his way.  Then I take the poopy diaper to the toilet, spray off the poop in the toilet with a diaper sprayer (a must!!). It never touches the toilet (unless it's the dumb Bum Genius AIO grrrr and to be fair I'm sure Bum Genius pockets are amazing. The BG I have never leak.... ). Wring it out (my hand doesn't get wet because the outside is waterproof), walk it back to his room, over the bin pull out the insert (if it's a pocket diaper) and throw it all in the dirty diaper bin.  Side note: I hang my clean diapers to dry on that rack to the right of the bins----> 

To wash: 

I pull out the wet bag holding the diapers and pour them all in the wash. Turn the wet bag inside out, then soak it all (diapers and bag) usually only a couple hours (but I do soaked them overnight once In a while) In HOT soapy water.  I use about 2 tbsp of the soap I make myself (on my Pinterest board "cloth diapering" but it's: borax, arm and hammer washing soda and oxi clean). 

You can't wash it with regular soap!! The suds won't wash out right making the diapers lose it's absorbency and it wears the outside lining. 

Then I rinse in COLD water twice, sometimes 3 times. 

If diapers start to leak its time to STRIP them.  I watched a You Tube video (sorry no links here I'm on my cell!).  They used a little bleach and rinse the diapers several times after.  

To PREP the brand new diapers, you HAVE to wash them and rinse them first so they won't leak. I use baking soda only with hot water then rinse once or twice with cold water. 

I hang them to dry but you am tumble dry on low. I know hanging them In The sun Gets rid of any stains but my dogs would tear them up :( so I hang to dry inside. 

Ok, that's it I think...? 

Sorry I don't know more :) and I know everyone does it different so it may be way off what you've heard before. 

Thanks for reading :) 

Love, The Curvy Housewife