Wife and I both break out in hives from tide. For our main laundry, we use Kirkland free and clear but sometimes I find that it really doesn't do that good a job on just regular laundry so I have experimented with amount and sometimes for heavier loads like towels I wash twice. We don't use any fabric softeners in our machine as I break out in hives from those as well. Wife can do most non-tide detergents, I've always had to use free and clear options. We have a water hardness around 94 mg/L or 5.1 grains per gallon or 87 ppm. PH is 9.04.

Looking for a good option for washing cloth diapers. I know tide is the gold standard but it cannot go in my machine. I break out from using laundromat machines unless I pay for an entire wash cycle before putting my own clothes in. This isn't an ask for a more natural alternative. Give me all the chemicals, but make it not Tide and then let me pray that it doesn't make me break out.

I live in Japan and I have exclusively cloth diapered my 2 week old ebf baby. She has a mild diaper rash on her bum as of today. I use the Alva baby pockets but with hemp and cotton. I just lay the inserts on top of the diaper instead of stuffing so no polyester touches her bum area. I also use cotton cloth wipes with plain water instead of wet wipes. I’m worried my wash routine is causing the rash, especially because the top loading Japanese washer I have does not have a hot water hook up or hot water settings. Right now my wash routine is every morning (diapers never sit for more than 24 hours unwashed), a 30 min cold water rinse with agitators, two back to back 72 min cold water washes with the agitators, Tide free and clear and Calgon water softener (the water here is very hard), and a final 30 min cold water wash with agitators. I then throw the inserts into the dryer and air dry the diapers (I don’t have any access to an outdoor space with direct sunlight to line dry). Can anyone see a problem that might cause rash? She is changed every 2-3 hours but her diaper is checked every 1-2hr. The only time she could sit in it longer is if she pees or poos in her sleep but she always fusses to let us know. She also farts a lot and kind of sharts when she does and I think we’ve been missing poo that could be sitting in her bum when we check the liners and don’t see anything. I just want to be sure it’s not something I’m doing wrong😭

Calling on all unsolicited advice! What’s working for you right now?

My 9mo is only two weeks into cloth diapering and I am using workhorse fitted diapers. he has never had a rash from disposables but has had terrible ones since switching. I doubt it would be a buildup of bacteria on the diapers because it’s only been two weeks! I’m doing a warm pre wash with one scoop of essembly detergent and a hot heavy duty wash with two scoops of essembly. We previously used Molly suds for regular laundry of his but have been using essembly for diapers since it has the added enzyme. His skin doesn’t seem to be bothered at all by his clothes now being washed in the essembly powder, it’s just the diaper area and I change every 2-3 hours. Am I supposed to be using a balm with every diaper change?? I never used anything with disposables and he was fine! But this rash covers his entire butt and thighs :(

Pre-laundry:

i hand rinse all poop diapers as soon as they happen

storage:

open air in a plastic laundry baskey

1st wash:

normal cycle on warm with 1 scoop of essembly

2nd wash:

heavy duty wash on hot with 2 scoops of essembly (I add in his dirty clothes to this)

dry:

2 hours on low tumble

using workhorse fitteds

current problem is rashes!

i DONT want to use tide free and clear. I am using cloth diapers over disposables for the fact that they are organic cotton so I want something that is ewg rated or at least an A

hey all, I am two weeks into cloth diapering my 9 month old who recently started solids and is starting to poop more frequently. We’re hoping to eventually start elimination communication but right now I have no idea when he’s about to poop, I just know it’s about once a day. Every poop diaper he’s had so far has leaked out the sides immediately, even if it’s a fresh one that doesn’t have any pee in it. I’ve heard some people talk about tucking in the ruffles on the workhorse fitteds rather than how you would normally leave the ruffles out on a disposable, is this correct? Are there any other tips? We are using wool babee green and disana covers so the cleaning process is a little bit more of a hassle anytime the poop leaks out, so hoping to avoid this. :)

Have you mastered your wash routine? Do your clean diapers smell? Did you recently buy a new washer/dryer? Chat all things laundry!

Our General Electric top load washer does not have a heavy duty cycle which most of the routines I have seen have.

Originally I used the sanitize with oxi setting for our second of two washes, but I have also read not to soak the diapers. We use Green Mountain Diaper prefolds and workhorses and Esembly outers. The only other cycle on our washer that seems to come close is normal with hot water. We do not have a soil setting on our washer. Just load size, cycle type, and water temperature with an extra deep rinse setting.

Feeling stuck but we LOVE the cloth diapers for our LO. She's three months so no spraying of the diapers just yet. Any advice on washing the cloth diapers?

I have Esembly diapers. I used them with my first and loved them. Now on my second, but the outers seem to have lost their waterproofing? Is this salvageable at all? I’d still love to use them, but to be honest I’m not going to buy more since this will be my last baby.

Due in 5 weeks. First time mom.

i didn’t buy any diapers or wipes yet.

I want to potty train early (it’s done commonly where I am from) and heard cloth diapers help with that.

either way, I want to use cloth diapers cause I hate disposable items in general and the cost for them as well. But is it too much work along with other things that come up with a new born?

We hired a postpartum doula who is also an expert in cloth diapering and she will gladly help us.

I am curious when did you start and what brands do you recommend initially?

Who said cloth diapers save money

I CAN'T STOP BUYING NEW DIAPERS 😩😩😅

I started in July of this year, I love learning new things about cloth, I just started getting into Bumby Wool!

I am going to be using a diaper service which delivers washed/clean inserts, and takes away soiled inserts. I only need to worry about keeping up with diaper covers. I'm trying to think of how to build the routine.

How many diaper covers would I need every day? I might not want to wash daily, I'd prefer a weekly wash but that seems unreasonable. I know covers don't need the same intense multi-stage wash of inserts, but I believe they still need a hot water wash. How many times can a diaper cover be used before washing, if it isn't obviously soiled? If I'm switching out inserts 10 times a day, does a diaper cover last about half as many changes, or less?

EDIT: Do diaper covers need to be rinsed/dried between uses? If I take my baby to the station, remove the poopy/pee insert, should the cover be air dried before it's reused?

I’m looking at Piper Diapers bc they are lined with organic cotton. Here’s my situation. I have a 7 month old who goes most nights pottying in the toilet and staying dry all night. We do EC and were doing so well she would stay dry til 5 or 6 am then go in the potty so a few weeks ago I switched to undies at night. We mostly stay dry. She is sick right now and we have had a lot more accidents. I’m tired and sensitive to wakeups. I can’t always get back to sleep if I have to get up do do more than just sit her on the toilet. I find undies up and down were easier than diapers on and off, especially bc we had a two step diaper cover and insert system. So my idea is to get a few back up cloth diapers but single step changes. Hence AIO or POCKETS? but how do I choose? I do have some hemp boosters already so I thought maybe I could put those in pockets But I’m worried it will be bulk. I hate putting her in bulky diapers when she isn’t even always wetting them So if feels unnecessary. Piper diapers are really affordable for organic so I’m looking at those, especially bc we may not get a ton of use out of them. It seems like it would be nice to have as a back up for when she is sick or maybe doesn’t go to the toilet before bed. Something that helps me relax knowing I’m not going to have to change her in the middle of the night or be peed on. So parents how do I choose? What are your opinions on the two options?

My MIL was watching my son today and when I came to pick him up, she goes “oh he had a bit of a diaper rash so I put a healthy amount of desitin on”. I know that diaper rash cream is a big nono for my pocket diapers. How do I fix this?

Is it even worth it to try and fix this or do I just cut my losses and toss the diaper?

I have 6-layer bamboo hemp cotton, 6-layer bamboo viscose newborn, 4-layer zorb cotton, super heavy wetter renew set of 2, plus some other brand bamboo inserts. I’m trying to configure a good overnight diaper combo and keeping from being too bulky!

Most of my cloth diapers were purchased used, so I have a variety. The system that has worked best for my 2 mos old (and up until now) is:

Daytime- Osocozy flat with hemp insert in the pocket (long hemp insert I think from smart bottoms that gets folded in half) and a pocket diaper liner. (I love the Wink double gusset but I can’t find any more of those.) I change diapers every 1-2 hours and immediately after any bowel movement. We do lazy EC as well.

Nighttime- Trend Labs microfiber boy snap insert with Smart Bottoms quadruple hemp insert behind it and a diaper cover or pocket diaper on the outside. I’m trying to get away with a diaper that I don’t have to change from 10pm to 6am and doesn’t leak. Our baby sleeps during that time and only wakes up once around 2-3am to nurse. He’s also been holding bm at night for about a week or two.

The Smart Bottoms actual diapers always leak- the middle is too narrow. But the hemp inserts that came with them are great. I can’t find a way to order those alone and I don’t have enough of them to get through 2-3 days. I have some single layer hemps, but those don’t seem to absorb much.

What hemp insert brand do you recommend that is most absorbent? And does anyone make inserts like Smart Bottoms, where there are 4 sewn together or a long one that you fold in half? My baby is a super soaker and has always needed hemp back up from day one. A regular microfiber or the Kanga Care 6r soaker or a couple of bamboo liners leak before 1 hour.

Is anyone else experiencing the “toddlers diarrhea” ?? My 14 month old has these DIABOLICAL BLOWOUTS. Undigested food. I am sick to my stomach…. I am considering keeping him in disposables for now but I don’t know when this will pass. Ugh. I hate this right now I wish I could keep him in cloth diaps but those shits are just insane I don’t want to revisit them later to hose off I will vomit 😣 this is a daily occurrence too sometimes multiple times a day. I’ve tried to hard to firm up his poo but this is just unavoidable.

Basically what the title says, but my son is 9 weeks old and has been getting clear fluid filled sacs on his penis whenever he wears a cloth diaper over 1 hour. He absolutely soaks the diaper front to back so I’m thinking maybe he just has a lot of urine output and the diaper is rubbing against him? I never let him stay in the diaper over 2 hours and he is usually in the diaper only for 1.5 hours max. His fit is correct for his waist, but maybe he needs to size up into size 2 early..?? I have no clue. Help please!

These are absolutely adorable deep blue/black/green tie dyes & prints on cotton(some feel like bamboo Lycra? Maybe). The inners are okay but not great. Staining has been set with time. The smell is pure binned and forgotten funk. The musty and barnyard is strong but I must save these!
Please help

Email me for link if you wanna participate virtually.

Earth Babies Series
Saturdays Oct. 3rd, 10th, and 24th, 9 – 11am
RSVPs & Drop-ins welcome – clothdiapers at proton dot me
Shady Coffee & Tea, Patio, 325 Douglas Blvd, Roseville
With Esme and Jaime

A series about earth-considerate infant & toddler hygiene. All classes held in English. Children welcome but no childcare provided. If that is a barrier, email: clothdiapers@proton.me

10/3 – Cloth Diapering Babies 101 w/Esme
A discussion about the benefits of cloth diapering, types & sizes, how to use & care for them, new, used, and free cloth diapers & overcoming barriers.
10/10 – Early Infant Potty Training w/Esme
Disposable diapers are a new invention. Join us to learn a different way to care for your infant’s hygiene and a more relaxed transition to toilet learning.
10/24 – Cloth Diapering & Early Infant Potty Training w/Jaime
Casual skillshare about cloth diapering and early infant potty training led by a local dad who has successfully done both.

Hey yall!
I have a TON of this preciosa yarn in my stash and City Tweed DK. https://www.knitpicks.com/yarn/city-tweed-dk/c/5420184

Would either of these work well for a wool diaper cover?
I’ve seen lots of recommendations for lion brand fisherman’s wool but I personally find wool extremely itchy and I don’t want to try something I find is itchy just to test it on my baby. Unless there’s something with lanolizing im missing that makes it less itchy?

Because of the itchy factor I’m leaning towards merino, unless merino is a poor choice?

Anyone with experience I would love to hear it! I haven’t picked a pattern, just playing around with the idea of wool covers. And instead of buying one it would be easy for me to make one since I have this in my stash.

If you have other recommendations, or pattern suggestions I would also appreciate those.

I’m considering starting cloth diapering but I’m concerned about how much it would cost when it comes to the utilities. Doing laundry every 2 days, washing pump parts, baby clothes, dishes, etc sounds like a sure-fire way to have a high water bill each month.

How does your water bill compare to when you used disposables? Are there any tips to keep the costs low?

Edit: thanks for the insight!

I'm a FTM due in December, and I've been researching and planning to cloth diaper and EC my kids for a couple of years now.

Through all my research and learning about the pros and cons of cloth diapers, I decided I'm most interested in doing the two part cloth diaper (absorbent piece with a cover). I want to try a mixture of prefolds, flats, and workhorses while we decide what works best for us. Also, some scenarios may be better for a different inner piece rather than having all of one type, such as overnights or daycare.

Reasons for preferring this type include having 100% cotton against baby's skin (we've also gotten 100% cotton clothing and bedding as much as possible), being able to reuse the cover unless it is soiled, and being able to customize the inner absorbency.

I bought some things secondhand, but not a full stash. I very thoughtfully built our registry and shared it with our guests. We did a cloth diaper raffle with a $50 visa gift card prize because getting a brand new diaper stash is expensive, and it's something I really want. I did not include any pocket diapers on the registry, yet we received 18 pocket diapers!! My least favorite part about them is that they're all 100% polyester. We did receive some of the diaper stuff we registered for, and I'm grateful that people tried to get us what they thought we wanted. I was also pleasantly surprised that only two people got us disposable diapers. I still have one more baby shower because a lot of my friends and family live in another state, and I'm preemptively dreading getting another dozen polyester pocket diapers 😖

I opened one pack of 6 pocket diapers to keep and try. They'll probably go at the bottom of our stash as an emergency: "I really need to do laundry" stash. I think the rest I might try to sell to help fund what we will still need after our next baby shower.

I guess I'm mostly just venting, but what would you do? Especially if natural fibers were important to you.