Cloth Diapering as a Working Mom

I've seen so many of my favorite bloggers posting about cloth diapering and it makes me very happy!

I pretty much knew I wanted to cloth diaper before I was even pregnant and would tag posts that I read that had information about it knowing I'd want to come back to them when the time came.

And, when the time came to start planning for baby's inevitable arrival I was overwhelmed by the amount of information out there. (Trust me when I say, I'm still reading the blogs and picking up tidbits.)

The diapers I decided on were the BumGenius Elemental One-size All-in-One. This was a hard choice, but I made it based on these factors:

- The Dad factor. Every CD mom I talked to and read posts by said her husband reached for these first. I knew my husband wouldn't be against CDing, but I needed him to be on board in a way that wouldn't create more work for me.

- The Daycare factor. When talking to daycares some of them said they wouldn't do cloth diapers at all. Of those I talked to some were hesitant, but said they would prefer the diapers that were one piece (not prefolds and covers).

- The durability factor. I've always wanted two children. So, I knew if I purchased cloth diapers I would want them to last all the way through one child and be in good enough condition for a second.

Of course, we couldn't use these until Julia was about 13 weeks old since they were just too big until then. So, we went through loads of disposables.

All of those things being said, I determined that I would purchase a few more than the moms I read recommended since most were stay at home moms. I knew as a working mom I wouldn't feel like or have time to do laundry every day.

We currently have 28 in our stash (I love how CD parents call it a stash!) and so far that seems to be enough. But, there are some cute new colors out so I might be tempted to add a couple more to the rotation.

So, this is my routine. And, yes, it's my routine, since I'm the one who washes them. While my husband is on board completely, he's not a laundry guy. At least not a baby laundry guy. 

Let's start with picking Baby Julia up from daycare since my routine seems to start here for the most part. I have a wet bag with two pockets, one for clean, dry items and one for wet, dirty items. When we get home I empty out the dirties and wipe down the wet pocket of the bag with antibacterial spray. I deal with the dirty (more on that later) and just put the wet into our wet bag in her room. The wet bag in her room is much larger!

Also, I keep some of these fresheners in each pocket of the bag.

While the bag is drying/ airing out I get the diapers for the next day ready to go and packed into the bag. (It's much easier for me to do it at this point than to realize the next morning I need to pack diapers.)

Sometimes a dirty will require soaking, but generally a quick spray is sufficient. I will say that I clean them much more thoroughly if it's not laundry day.

To help cut down on the work involved in cleaning the dirties I use diaper liners. I chose these to start with, but I might move to a different brand. I'm not sure yet. I go ahead and place the liners in the diapers when I'm packing them up for the next day.

We don't need to use the liners when we're at the house since we notice a dirty diaper right away and can deal with it right then. And, of course, the caregivers at daycare like them better since it's less for them to have to deal with.

Back to the routine!
I take four clean diapers with her every morning and two clean diapers are kept there as a backup if needed. (This does mean two diapers are not in our rotation so we're really working with 26. Just for your reference.) So, that's what I pack up for the next day.

If it's a laundry day I generally get the load of all the diapers that need washing started after I've packed up the next days' stash. I run a cold pre-wash and use Thirsties Pre-Wash. This is in one of those bottles that pre-measures for you and it doesn't take much. I've read that most issues with cloth diapering are laundry related so anything to remove all waste and bacteria is a good thing.

After the pre-wash I run a regular was on hot and heavy duty. (I was using our regular detergent which is all natural, but I learned it has enzymes in it and that could break down our diapers faster so I switched.) I use these Eco-Nuts as a detergent in this step. And, y'all, this is some hippy sh*t! I got these from Baby Steals and kind of ordered them quickly thinking they would be like the Dippin'Dots of the laundry world. Um, no. They look like acorns. We're getting really crunchy up in here! But, they work. So, much so I've begun using them on my dedicates.

One of the other reasons I went with the BumGenius All-in-Ones was because I can put them in the dryer. So, I do. I dry them on medium heat for one cycle. Then, we do this:

The biggest complaint I have about the AIOs is how long they take to dry. But, it's really not a deal breaker. I generally leave these to finish drying overnight. The next morning I put them all into her drawer and smile at this sight:

I'm sure once it's warm outside I'll just air dry them on our back patio.

And, the next morning when I drop her off I just place the bag with the clean diapers in her diaper cubby. That's it!

I do think the two times she's had a "blowout" (I really hate that term, by the way) it's because the diaper wasn't sized properly. I've shown the caregivers at daycare how to make sure it's snug enough and it generally helps keep these accidents from happening.

And, she's not had any issues with these at night. *knocks on wood*. But, if it starts to be a problem, I have a couple of these inserts. I can fortify her AIOs with. I've seen tons of arguments against the AIOs that they aren't good enough for night. I think it truly depends on your baby.

I also have some stay dry liners I purchased in case we need to use a diaper cream. Most diaper creams are not compatible since they affect the absorbency. I have this Magic Stick that is compatible, but I'm ready if we ever need anything stronger. And, honestly, we haven't needed a diaper cream since switching to cloth.

Phew! That's a lot of information isn't it?

So, that's how I make it work. And, you know what? It does work. So, for all of the naysayers who think it's too much trouble if you're a working mom I would disagree. But, the key is to find a caregiver who's on board with it. And, taking one to show them generally helps. Once they see how much like a disposable diaper it is, they're easier to convince.

So, do you cloth diaper? Do you have any tips to make it easier? Or, maybe some questions I can answer to help you decide if it's right for you?