Permission for New Cloth Diaper Mamas to Chill Out

I sat in my living room 9 months pregnant surrounded by piles of cloth diapers: all-in-ones, fitteds, pockets, and hybrids. Oozing with nesting hormones, I was a woman on a mission. These diapers were going to be stripped and prepped for the baby by the end of the night!

stripping cloth diapersI took them all apart, putting stuffers (about nine different styles, over 75 total) in one pile and the diapers (ranging ten different styles) in another.

Biggest. Mistake. Ever.

I had literally NO idea which stuffers went with which diapers. It was like being trapped in a Sonic menu, with 300 possible combinations.  Which ones work best for boys? How would I know which snaps to use? Did I use the correct wash routine? Did I have enough of each type? Too many?

I sat in my pile of crap (collectors) and cried. It was my first “mom fail” and I hadn’t even popped a baby out yet.

I wish I could go back and tell myself  “Chill. Out. They’re diapers. They catch pee.”

What’s the worst that could happen, they leak? Newsflash: they’re going to leak until you figure it out. Let yourself have (guilt free) time to find what works. You can read online until the wee hours of the morning what OTHER moms like, but your baby is ultimately going to determine what fits them best.

cloth diaper butt crack

This baby is going to pee and poop on SO many things that you should be grateful it is on the outside of a diaper and not on your wall. Or worse.

What if my wash routine doesn’t work? Come on, you KNOW you spent at LEAST an hour researching googling/pinteresting wash routines for your new cloth diapers.

So, what if  your wash routine sucks? What if they still have that faint ammonia smell or you still see a little stain. Listen closely:

Wash. Them. Again.

Cloth Diaper

Try something new. It’s not the end of the world. In general, remember “less is more.” Avoid bleach, dryer sheets (or dryers at all in most cases), and pretty much any diaper rash cream or detergent that a toddler couldn’t pronounce all the ingredients of, and you’ll probably do just fine. Bonus points for detergent packaging that looks like it came straight from 1982. Screwed that up? Eh, you can probably still fix it.

cloth diapers

What if I finally explode and rip off the head of the next person who rolls their eyes when I say I cloth diaper? So help you if they use the phrase “Ha, we’ll see how long that lasts!” Take a deep breath. Remind them (gently) that today’s cloth diapers are entirely different than cloth diapers of the past. You could even go crazy town and do what I did: pass one around at your baby shower so everyone can SEE that comparing today’s cloth diapers with those safety pinned rags is silly. That’s the nice lady-like word I am choosing to use here, “silly.”Cloth Diaper

What if I DO hate them? What if my daycare provider refuses to use them? What if it becomes overwhelming? Breathe mama. Let this be one of the first moments (of many) that you cut yourself some slack from achieving the “perfect parent” vision you made for yourself pre-baby. Life doesn’t have to be all or nothing. I remember the first time I saw our super crunchy birth instructor put a disposable diaper on her baby for bed. She said, “We just haven’t found the right fit for night, so we’ve been doing a disposable.” It was the permission I needed to give myself a break. We use a disposable at night and even sometimes when it’s just plain old more convenient. (Like a long day at the pumpkin patch playing in bins of corn)

disposable corn maze diaper

You are not cheating on your cloth diapers if you let your baby’s butt touch a disposable from time to time.

*Now, if you cloth diaper to save the earth, maybe you should just ignore everything you just read.*

Still hate them, even after investing in an entire diaper stash? Well, that sucks for you (sorry to be so blunt). The good news is that you can sell them, and usually for pretty close to retail. Yes, even used. Ooh, ooh, I call dibs!

I would like to encourage you to try it for one more month though. You’ll master all this soon enough. You’ll find your niche and routine. Then the REAL cloth diapering problem will kick in. The addiction. Even though you have more than enough in your “stash”, you are going to find yourself itching to buy that adorable new print, or to pick up “just one more” when you see a sale.

Cloth Diaper

So, new cloth diapering mommy, remember: It’s poop and pee, not rocket science. If what you’re doing doesn’t work, OH WELL. I have good news for you, there will always be more dirty diapers. Lucky you.

Allison Brown
Allison grew up in the Wichita area with her husband. After graduating from K-State, they moved to Kansas City for five years. She left her job as a child development and parenting teacher to stay at home with their son, Eli. Their family moved back home to Derby where Eli is growing up close to family. As an added bonus, they also bask in the freedom that is the deepest bench of free babysitters imaginable. Attempting to find their "new normal" in an old and familiar hometown keeps them busy. She loves bargain hunting, making everything into an event (preferably with a theme), taking "an obscene amount" of photos of her son, and sugar.