How we cloth diaper

A couple of months ago I shared our plans for cloth diapering once our baby boy was here and big enough. Well... we are about 6 weeks into our cloth diapering venture and absolutely loving it so I thought I would share how it is going, my wash routine, etc.
Nothing cuter than a cloth diapered booty

After researching the different kinds of CDs, I knew right away that pocket diapers were for us. Especially with a boy, I love the option of doubling up on inserts at nighttime or whenever I perceive he will be a heavy wetter. We have 24 Bum Genius 4.0 one size snap pocket diapers. Most CD mamas have a variety of styles, brands, etc but the OCD in me wanted every diaper to be the same so we have 6 of 4 different gender neutral colors. For all things cloth diapering, I order from Diapers.com. Other supplies we have: 2 Kissaluvs diaper pail liners, 2 Itzy Ritzy wet bags, a Bum Genius diaper sprayer (that we don't use yet), and a diaper pail. Oh and coconut oil! I bought a giant tub of it at Costco for super cheap and don't imagine I will go through it all EVER. Since you can't use traditional diaper cream on CD booties, coconut oil is a CD safe and natural alternative. I scooped some into a smaller container and keep it at his changing table. 
Ford is 100% cloth diapered all day, every day. I love it. To be honest, the days leading up to when we started (I wanted to wait until A. he was big enough for the diaps and B. he wasn't going through 12 diapers a day), I thought "What the heck did I get myself into?! I don't wanna cloth!". I was terrified. Looking back I'm not really sure why I was so scared but cloth diapering is a piece of cake. The first weekend we started, we stayed home most of the time just to be cautious. We weren't really sure what we were doing and an explosion is easier to clean at home than out and about! And it took all of 2 days for me to be Team Cloth! We did use disposables when we traveled to Dallas and Ohio, it's just easier than packing bulky diapers and washing away from home. I was SO ready to get back to cloth since Ford kept leaking out of the disposables. *To prep our diapers we washed only once and have had no issues. 
So our routine. Ford goes through about 5-7 diapers a day and I wash every 3rd day with about 2-3 diapers to spare. Y'all.... the washing is so easy! I hate when I hear people say "oh cloth diapering doesn't save time or money because of the washing." It is so easy to keep up with and we haven't noticed an uptick in our bills. 1 extra load in the washing machine every 3 days, that's cake. And I hang dry so there is no added electricity there. Since Ford is exclusively breastfed, there is no need for me to rinse his poopie diapers. Potty diapers are easy. Unsnap and throw into the diaper pail. Poop is basically the same but with added wiping and I usually smear coconut oil on his tush just for preventive care. As gross as it may seem, I take off the soiled diaper, fold it, and put it right into the diaper pail. The only semi yucky thing about dealing with the poop is on wash day I remove all the inserts from my diapers and that can smell a little funky. Breastmilk poop doesn't stink per se, it just has a different smell. 
On day 3, I remove the inserts from my diapers and throw everything into the washer. We have this washing machine if you are interested, we love it! It is so easy to use and huge. I pour about 2 tbsp of Purex Free and Clear detergent into the slot and set up my wash cycle. I'm gonna pause for a sec and say that after tons of research on cloth diaper safe detergent, I found that Purex Free and Clear is 100% safe and SO cheap! Many people use detergents made by the diaper companies that are incredibly expensive but Purex is so darn cheap. I believe you can use some sort of Tide Powder but you have to be VERY careful about dyes, additives, brighteners, etc. Back to my wash cycle. I program the cycle to start with a cold rinse followed by a HOT wash and an extra rinse and spin at the end. This cycle seems to be working really well for us and we haven't run into any stink issues yet. Luckily stripping diapers is pretty easy if we ever have barnyard smells. And believe it or not, my washer does NOT smell either! The whole cycle takes about 1 hour and 20 minutes and once done, I hang dry my diapers and inserts outside on our deck. 
My laundry helper

One thing I was worried about was poop stain on diapers because let's face it, babies can poop like crazy! I was discouraged after my first wash when my poop diapers were stained. If you are a CD mama or considering it, I highly recommend joining The Cloth Diaper Compendium on Facebook. It is such a great resource and full of awesome information. I was told that sunning my diapers would magically remove the stains and what do you know... it worked! Even dried poop stains are GONE with a little sunshine. In fact, I haven't had a good day of sun my past few wash days so I've hung dried inside and earlier this week put them in the sun and boom. Stains gone. Once my diapers and inserts are dry, I usually stuff while playing with my little man and that takes about 5 minutes. 
I was initially really nervous about changing cloth diapers out and about but it is pretty much the same as changing a disposable except I carry a wet bag with me for dirties. The wet bag locks in any liquid or smells and I empty the diapers into my pail right when I get home. One thing I am currently weary about is having to spray my diapers once Ford starts solids but hey, we will cross that bridge when we get there!
Honestly I am so glad we decided to cloth Mr. Ford and will definitely be cloth diapering future babies. Not a day goes by where I don't think, "Hey! I've saved $15 in diapers this week." Yes the initial investment is high but cloth diapering pays for itself very quickly and continues to pay for itself for years to come. If you have an older baby in sposies and are considering cloth diapering, my sweet friend Teressa wrote an awesome and informative post titled, "Is it too late to start cloth diapering?". And my fellow new mommy Kaitlyn wrote a great post this week explaining the different kinds of cloth diapers and the pros/cons of each. One thing I will say is if you are considering cloth, your husband HAS to be on board. Men (and women too!) have a hard time getting over the 'dealing with poop' aspect of CDing and it's not something you want to force your spouse to do when you're already dealing with caring for a new little one.
If I forgot anything, feel free to ask any questions in the comments! Make sure your email address is attached so I can respond!