We use cloth!

Hey all! Before we even found out that we were expecting our sweet bundle, we knew we wanted to use cloth diapers (nappies). I had seen some friends use them for their children and was hooked! In a world that uses mostly disposable dipes, we get a few questions about why we use cloth, so I thought I would share why we use them and my thoughts about our journey with them so far.

Firstly, we use LittleBloom pocket diapers. I got them on amazon for fairly cheap. We have about 30 diapers, which lasts us 4 days (but I wash every 2 so that we never run out!).

Why do we use cloth?
For starters, anyone who knows me knows that I like a bargain and that I save money in any way I can. For me, the cost of washing cloth diapers is far less than buying disposables. This was the number 1 reason for choosing cloth, but I've gained some other reasons on our journey thus far.

Cloth diapers are made from (mostly) fleece with PUL outer shells. After doing some research, I found that disposable diapers have chemicals in them that make them super absorbent, etc and I didn't know how that would affect our girl as both hubby and I have sensitive skin. Sure enough, in Julia's first few weeks of life (when we had to use disposables as she was too small for cloth), Julia broke out in god-awful nappy rash, even when we were using protective cream! Ever since going to cloth, she has never had another outbreak.

Cloth diapers minimise any 'messy diapers'. We've only had one messy diaper incident that required a whole new outfit change and that was when we were in Canada and Julia was in a disposable diaper. Oh the mess...enough for me to not want to use disposables on the regular!

Natural 'protective cream'. You can't use normal nappy rash cream with cloth diapers as the cream sticks to the diaper and doesn't wash off. It reduces the cloth absorbency and then you have basically wasted your money. After some quick research, we discovered the power of organic coconut oil. We use this. It may seem pricey at first, but we bought a jar when Julia was 3 weeks old and are only about a quarter of the way through it. A little really does go a long way!

You may have noticed all the snaps on the diapers if you had a look. These things will last until Julia is potty trained! Woo!

Washing isn't so bad. We manage to fill a wet bag or two and then chuck it all in the wash. We use a system of rinse, wash, rinse to ensure that they get a good clean. A lot of websites advised using special detergent but, to be honest, we use the cheapest Kirkland brand and it does the trick just fine! Someone once told me that if you have sensitive skin, buy the cheapest soap you can find because it doesn't have any other perfumes and additives to make it fancy. The Kirkland brand is great!

The cost of washing? Unnoticeable. Considering I'm doing laundry every day for someone, whether it be myself, hubby or Julia, the associated cost with washing the diapers can't be seen.

Our journey with cloth has been great. I'm a complete lover of them and would not use disposables if I had the choice. We do use disposables during trips so that we don't have to worry about washing our diapers, but that's a small price to pay for the benefits of using cloth at home.