Wee Kin

I loved loved loved our cloth diapers! I am so glad you are thinking about them and visiting this page. When we began cloth diapering over a decade ago, friends asked me about it and asked me to share tips or helpful resources. I wrote it all down and would email it to them, and sometimes they shared it with other friends and told me I should start a blog. A decade later, here we are! It's been awhile since we were in this stage, but I hope this will be useful to help get you started and pointed in the right direction. At the bottom of this page I am including links to websites dedicated exclusively to cloth diapering that I found extremely helpful and are savvy avout all the latest products. 

We used our cloth diaper supplies through two babies. When we were done with diapers we boxed them up and gave them to friends to use. Our toddler set was passed on to a third mom. Years later I was at a summer gathering talking to a mom whom I had met casually before, but didn't know well. As we were talking more, she paused and said, "You know, I think I have your cloth diapers." She was the mom our toddler diaper set went to! I was so glad to know that they went to her and she really appreciated them. 

Getting started with cloth can be intimidating, but my advice is to just dive into it as soon as you have all the supplies ready (more on that coming up). It's not that hard, really. At first we used disposables all the time because frankly we were intimidated by cloth, and because we had a really tiny baby (there are cloth diapers for preemies - see Green Mountain Diapers link at bottom of page). Once we took the plunge into cloth we used disposable diapers (we called them "travel diapers") whenever we went out, but as we got more used to cloth we began using them all the time, everywhere, except when we traveled away overnight. When we went out for a long hike or walk, we just used a doubler to make sure our babies stayed dry. When we changed cloth diapers away from home we used disposable bamboo wipes. 

The most challenging parts of cloth diapering are knowing what to get, and knowing how to wash everything.** When cared for well, cloth diapers last a long long time. We used a dry pail system and washed our diapers every other day, but sometimes with the infant diapers we got away with every third day. With breast fed only babies (infant stage), you don't have to pre-rinse the diapers in the toilet, so it's super easy. Once they start eating solids (toddler stage), you have to rinse out the solid waste in the toilet first - no biggy, just one more step. We should note that we felt fortunate to find a used, top loading Kenmore washing machine years ago, just like my mom's. I  don't know the ins and outs of washing with contemporary, high tech, front loading washers. We also set up a laundry line, so even in our Rocky Mountain, four-season climate we can line dry most of the year - good for saving energy costs & good for anti-bacterial sun exposure. I'll help you tackle the challenges of knowing what to get and how to wash it below. 

**If you live in an urban area there will also likely be cloth diaper services. They pick up your dirty diapers, and drop off clean ones ready to use. That was not an option for us so I don't have any experience with it, but I wanted to point out that this type of service may potentially be an option for you to consider.