Working and Cloth-Diapering: Stories from the Trenches by a Working Mom of 3

I’ll never forget the look on my husband’s face when I announced that I thought we should use cloth diapers with our first daughter.  He raised his eyebrows, looked at me quizzically to see if I was joking, and when he finally realized I was serious, he said, “Fine by me.  But I’m not washing them.”  Fair enough.   I had researched extensively before I made the proposal to him, and was armed with information to persuade him that I wasn’t insane.  Quite frankly, I was shocked he didn’t put up more of a fight.

As a high school band director in a large, suburban district, my schedule borders on insane.  It is not unusual for me to have evening commitments at work 3 or 4 nights a week.  My daughter was due in April, and I was taking the remainder of the school year off, but we knew I would be heading back to work the following August.  The fall is my busiest time of year; marching band season means I am at work from 7am-6pm, with football games and festivals taking up nearly every Friday night and Saturday.  I guess I wasn’t surprised, then, when friends and family questioned my sanity in adding one more thing to my never-ending to-do list. 

But, we did it.  And quite successfully, at that!  My daughter was cloth-diapered up until she potty-trained at age 2.5, including her time at a licensed daycare facility.  (They thought I was nuts until they saw my awesome Fuzzibunz!)  So when we found out we were expecting twins, there was no question that we’d cloth diaper again, and this time, my husband didn’t even bat an eye.  The babies are almost 6 months old now, and have been happily in cloth since around week 2.  I’m still working (though I’ve taken a hiatus from marching band—whew!) and we’re constantly telling our friends and family that if we can use cloth, so can they!

So, can you work full time and successfully cloth diaper, without losing your mind?  Absolutely!  Here are my top 5 suggestions for any working moms who want to give it a shot:

1.       Invest for convenience.  I knew that there was no way I would have the long-term desire to deal with pins, folding, etc.  I wanted something that was simple and easy, even if it meant spending more money initially.  When I started building a stash, I tried to find a good balance between convenience and cost-efficiency.   For me, that meant fitteds and covers for the newborn stage and pocket diapers and AIOs for beyond.    

2.       Have a routine.   In order for cloth diapering not to become a huge burden, you need to make the process a daily habit.  When I first went back to work, I got into the habit of starting a load of diaper laundry right when I arrived home (if it was wash day).  My daughter would generally fall asleep in the car on the way home from daycare, so I would just plop her carseat down in the kitchen, start a load, and then get to work prepping dinner until she woke up.  I’d do the second wash after I got her down for the night, and then put everything in the dryer before I went to bed. 

3.       Keep it simple.  It’s easy to get sucked in by all the online chatter about the best soap, most effective wash routine, or the latest and greatest diaper.  My suggestion is to figure out what works for you, and then not mess around with it.  While the appeal of using the highly recommended diaper-friendly, environmentally-friendly soap was tempting, I knew the first time I ran out and forgot to order online, I was not going to be happy.  So, I settled on All Free and Clear, because it’s readily available and inexpensive.   I do a very simple wash routine (short cold wash with a teeny bit of detergent, hot long wash with ½ the recommended amount, extra rinse only if there’s any remaining odor).  Inserts and fitteds go in the dryer, pockets get hung on a drying rack in our bedroom.  Once my kids start solids, I use flushable liners, because, again, I am going for simplicity, and I don’t have the time, energy, or desire to scrape poop.

4.       Teach your husband how to wash diapers.  No, I’m not joking.  Even my husband, who gave the no-washing ultimatum, is a pro now.  On my busiest weeks, he’s even been known to put in a load, unprompted.  There’s nothing like coming home to your husband sitting in the middle of the living room floor, stuffing pockets. 

5.       Remember, you are not supermom.  Cloth diapering does not have to be an all or nothing proposition.  You may have times where you find yourself staring at a diaper-less baby and a full diaper pail.  So, pull out that backup package of disposables—it’s OK, and it doesn’t mean you have to throw in the towel. Every cloth diaper you DO use is one less disposable in the landfill, and that’s a good thing.  

Guest blogger, Rachel, is a high school music teacher in the Chicago suburbs, where she lives with her husband of 10 years and 3 kids age 3 and under.  She's loving the little years and doing her best to embrace the chaos of working and parenting.  (But she's really glad to have the summer off.)   

The First Year Freak-Out!

One-Size Diapers are incredibly popular and with good reason! They allow you to change the sizing on the diaper to grow with your child, making cloth diapers even more economical! However, one of the most frequently asked questions we get at Nicki's Diapers is something like, "My 7 month old is so chunky and is already on the largest setting of his one-size diapers! There is no way these are going to fit through potty training! What do I do?!" I can almost hear the panic in their voice as I read it, because I've been there!

Let me tell you, it's going to be OK! The vast majority of children DO potty train out of their one-size diapers, even if they were a super chunky baby! Let me tell you my story :) Ian, my oldest son, came into the world more than 4 years ago at a whopping 9 pounds 11 ounces (born at 39 weeks, yikes!). We didn't start cloth diapering him till he was about 12 weeks old and we exclusively used BumGenius 3.0 One-Size Pocket Diapers. Right off the bat, Ian was on the second largest setting and within a couple months, they diapers were fully unsnapped. I was FREAKED! Did I just drop hundreds of dollars on these diapers only to use them for a few months?!

Then, he started to crawl and slimmed down a bit. Then, he started to walk and slimmed down even more. He was never an incredibly rolly polly baby, just really solid. Their body shape changes as they grow and even those who have maxed out the rise of the diaper will likely still be using them well into toddlerhood! I've also found that the more mobile baby becomes, the easier it is for them to have a lower rise diaper. As the close in on potty training, it more resembles underwear then, too! So, the good news is that when he potty trained just before his 3rd birthday at about 32 pounds, he was still fitting beautifully in his one-size diapers and we had actually snapped man of them down a snap to get a more trim fit under his toddler sized jeans. Just a couple months ago, our family was hit with a stomach virus and at 4 years old and 40 pounds, I put Ian back into one-size diapers for a couple days without any fit issues!

 

Pictured above, (left) Ian at 7 months old with the diaper fully unsnapped and (right, below) Ian at 2 1/2 years old, still wearing one-size diapers! So if you're like me and many of the concerned parents who's little one seems to be growing at a rapid rate, take a deep breath! You're not the only one to be having the "First Year Freak-Out!"!

Cloth Diapering the BIG Kids

When I first started cloth diapering, I did a ton of research and looked for the best long-term investment.   My husband crunched the numbers (he actually made a spreadsheet) and determined that since baby #2 was on the way, a system of one-size diapers was the best solution.  I began using one-size pocket diapers when my oldest son was just under two years old.  They fit him well, as he was between 25 and 30 lbs.  After my second son was born, they both wore the same style diapers for many months, but eventually my older boy started growing -- a LOT!

Suddenly he was over 35 lbs.  And TALL.  And still in diapers.  We learned that he has autism, and his development in several areas was delayed.  Toileting is one of the places where he is just not at the same place as other kids his age.  I started to panic a little as his pocket diapers slowly started to become too small.  I had to try many many different brands and styles to figure out what fits on my now 42 lb, well-over-3ft-tall almost four year old.  I see many parents worrying about what happens if their child outgrows their current diapers before potty training, so I thought I'd pass along some of the things I've learned along the way for the big kids or kids with special needs!

• One-size diapers typically end their weight range around 30-35lbs.  For most kids, that's plenty to get through to potty training.

• A few brands/styles run significantly bigger.  The ones I've found are:   
• Blueberry/Swaddlebees/Weehuggers: The covers have lots of room to spare  
• Best Bottom Diapers with Extender Tabs: I can make my younger boy's diapers work on my big guy in a pinch with these.  
• Flip! covers (to a lesser extent): I like the trim fit, but they're at the end of their range.
• Fuzzibunz Perfect Size Pocket Diapers XL: Lots of room in these, great for really big kids!
• Tweedlebugs: Surprisingly generous fit for an economical price.

• Most pants at this size (my boy is in 5T) don't build in extra room for diapers like pants for smaller children.  This makes trim fit important -- all-in-ones and pockets don't work the best under jeans.  For this reason I really like using a cover and a trim insert.

 

Casey is a sales associate at our Madison Retail Store and a contributing blogger. She is mom to two little boys, ages 3 and 1 1/2.